Flyers Notes: Konecny, Sanheim, Grans, Ersson
There are only two days until rosters are announced for the 4 Nations Face-Off but we may already have a sneak peek at a couple of players that will play for Team Canada. According to Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff, Philadelphia Flyers’ players Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim will be named to Canada’s roster.
Konecny would be an unsurprising addition to Team Canada. He’s been a point-per-game player for the Flyers over the last three years with 77 goals and 159 points in 161 games and has represented Canada well in the past. Konecny tallied eight assists in 10 games during the 2017 IIHF World Championships and two points in five games for Team Canada’s U20 team during the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships.
Sanheim’s inclusion on the roster would be an interesting development. Along with increased ice time, his scoring has increased over the last two years but Sanheim’s name typically isn’t mentioned with the top Canadian defenseman. He hasn’t suited up for Team Canada since the 2022 IIHF World Championships when he scored one goal and four points in 10 tournament games.
Other Flyers notes:
- The Flyers organization announced a small roster move earlier today by loaning defenseman Helge Grans back to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Grans’ demotion could correlate with the return of defenseman Jamie Drysdale or the team may not feel the need to carry eight defensemen on the active roster. The Ljungby, Sweden native tallied one assist over six games with Philadelphia averaging 14:28 of ice time per game.
- Philadelphia is nearing the reality of a full goaltending trio as Jackie Spiegel of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that goaltender Samuel Ersson was a full participant at today’s practice. Ersson hasn’t played since November 11th due to a lower-body injury. Still, over 11 games with the Flyers this year, he’s managed a 5-2-2 record with a .902 save percentage and 2.70 goals against average.
Stars Place Tyler Seguin On IR, Recall Justin Hryckowian
The Dallas Stars have shifted things around ahead of their Monday matchup against Utah. They’ve recalled forward Justin Hryckowian and assigned defender Alexander Petrovic. Additionally, star forward Tyler Seguin has been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
Seguin has carried a lingering lower-body injury through most of the season, and was expected to miss at least one up coming game to nurse the issue. Seguin has been on-fire recently despite the teetering health. He has multi-point games in two of Dallas’ last four outings, including a two-point effort on Friday. The Stars’ star has nine goals and 20 points in 19 games this season, ranking third on the team in scoring.
Seguin will be replaced by young forward Hryckowian, who’s yet to make his NHL debut. The 23-year-old winger is in the first full season of his career. He played in 12 AHL games, and scored three points, at the end of last season – signing with the Texas Stars as an undrafted college free agent. He’s played exceptionally well in the pro setting, with a team-leading 16 points in 17 AHL games this season.
Meanwhile, Petrovic will return to the minors after two games, and no scoring, on the Dallas roster. Petrovic has nine points in 14 AHL games this season, the highest scoring pace of his 14-year professional career. He’s totaled 50 points in 266 career NHL games; and 160 points in 441 AHL games.
Flames Place Justin Kirkland On IR, Recall Two
The Calgary Flames have recalled forwards Jakob Pelletier and Walker Duehr, two of the top three scorers for the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. They’ve made room for the call-ups by assigning forward Adam Klapka to the minor leagues, and placing Justin Kirkland on injured reserve. This latter move was first reported by Ryan Pike of Flames Nation. Kirkland left Calgary’s Friday loss to Columbus early with a lower-body injury. He sat out of the team’s Saturday game, and will now miss at least three more games while on IR.
Pelletier and Duehr have been core pieces of the Wranglers roster over the last month. They both have 19 points in 20 games, with Duehr’s scoring split as 11 goals and eight assists and Pelletier posting three goals and 16 assists. Duehr has been particularly red-hot, with eight points in his last 10 games. He also boasts more NHL experience between the two, stepping into 68 games across the last four seasons and scoring an evenly-split 18 points. Pelletier has played 37 NHL games of his own across the last three seasons, netting four goals and 10 points. Neither of the two have found their stride at the top flight just yet, but stand as two of Calgary’s top prospects outside of the NHL – especially Pelletier, who was selected 26th-overall in the 2019 NHL Draft.
One of the two will likely slot into Calgary’s lineup right away, set to fill Klapka’s role on the fourth-line wing. Right-shot Duehr seems the sensible choice. Klapka will return to the minors after playing through six NHL games with no scoring. He has five goals and eight points in seven AHL games this year, and potted 46 points in 65 games last season. He’ll get a chance to return to that level of production on this assignment, while hoping his Wranglers teammates don’t leapfrog him on the depth chart.
Devils Recall Mike Hardman, Nathan Legare; Assign Shane Bowers
The New Jersey Devils have recalled forwards Mike Hardman and Nathan Legare, and assigned forward Shane Bowers. Bowers will head back to the minors after a week on the NHL roster. He stepped into three games on this call-up, recording no socring, a -2, and two penalty minutes while averaging a little over eight minutes of ice time.
New Jersey will swap out the unproductive Bowers with veteran minor-leaguers Hardman and Legare. Only the former has played in the NHL, stepping into 37 games with the Chicago Blackhawks between 2020 and 2023. He scored three points in his first eight career games, but only added two assists in the proceeding 29. Hardman has also amassed 174 games across four seasons in the AHL. He started his career there with similar productivity – netting 32 points in his first 43 games – but he’s only added 63 points in 131 games since. Legare has been even less productive, with just three points, all goals, in 18 games this season. He’s managed just 50 points in four seasons and 197 career games in the AHL.
Hardman seems to be the more likely of the two to step into the lineup, receiving a well-timed call-up after winning the AHL’s ‘Player of the Week’ award with seven points in a three-game span.
Hardman’s call-up comes at a good time, just days after he won the AHL’s ‘Player of the Week’ award with seven points in a three-game span last week. His NHL precedent likely makes him New Jersey’s next-man-up, though both call-ups could line up with New Jersey bearing with injuries to Curtis Lazar, Nathan Bastian, and Tomas Tatar.
Islanders Recall Marcus Hogberg, Semyon Varlamov Day-To-Day
The New York Islanders have recalled goaltender Marcus Hogberg under emergency conditions. He’ll fill in for backup Semyon Varlamov, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury but is expected to travel with the team to Montreal. Varlamov played through New York’s Friday overtime-loss to the Washington Capitals and didn’t seem to suffer an injury. He backed up Ilya Sorokin‘s shutout win on Saturday as well.
But it seems Varlamov may now need a break to ensure he’s at full health. The 36-year-old goaltender has appeared in 10 games this season, recording a 3-4-3 record and .889 save percentage. Varlamov has finished with a save percentage below .900 just once in his 17-year NHL career – when he managed a .898 in 24 games of the 2016-17 season. He more often finds his save percentage north of .910 – a mark he’s hit 12 different times, including his .918 in 28 games last season. Varlamov has been as consistent as a pro goaltender can be, making his losing record to start this season all the more surprising.
Hogberg has a chance to return to the NHL lineup should Varlamov step back. He’s spent the start of the season splitting AHL starts with Jakub Skarek. Both goalies have made 10 starts but Hogberg has the better stat line – posting a 2-4-3 record and .908 save percentage, to Skarek’s 3-7-0 record and .896 save percentage. Hogberg made a return to North American pros for this season after spending the last three years starting for Linkopings HC of Sweden’s SHL. He performed well in the role, playing at least 40 games and surpassing a .900 save percentage in each season. Hogberg combined for 59 wins and a .909 save percentage in 124 games over the three year stretch, picking up the tendency for strong play in Sweden that he showed prior to his 2016 move to North America. Hogberg played in 42 NHL games for the Ottawa Senators between 2018 and 2021 – recording nine wins and a .894.
Red Wings Recall Sebastian Cossa On Emergency Basis
The Detroit Red Wings have recalled top goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa under emergency conditions, after starter Cam Talbot left Sunday’s game early. Talbot was replaced by Ville Husso, who allowed three goals on 18 shots as the Red Wings. Head coach Derek Lalonde didn’t have any updates on Talbot’s outlook, though Cossa’s recall suggests he may miss the next few days. Detroit is already without backup goaltender Alex Lyon, who isn’t expected to travel on the team’s two-game road trip due to a lower-body injury.
This is the first recall of Cossa’s career. He was the 15th-overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, becoming the 13th-highest drafted goaltender in league history and the highest since Spencer Knight went 13th-overall in 2019. Cossa played in a third WHL season after his first-round selection, setting 33 wins and a .913 save percentage in 46 games – and leading the Edmonton Oil Kings to the third Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions in franchise history. Cossa turned pro in the following year, getting assigned to start in the ECHL thanks to a heap of lineup competition in Grand Rapids. He took the third-tier assignment in stride, posting 26 wins and a .913 save percentage – enough to win out the AHL starting role in 2023-24. After showing his resilience in climbing Detroit’s depth chart, Cossa showed his consistency last season – posting a .913 save percentage for the third-straight season, this time in 40 games played and coupled by 22 wins.
Cossa has continued to perform admirably this season, once again serving as Grand Rapids’ clear-cut starter and currently sat with nine wins and a .925 in 14 games. He’s clearly Detroit’s next man up, while the AHL crease will now be held down by Carter Gylander and Jack Campbell. The latter – another former first-round goalie selection – has yet to make his season debut or team debut, after starting the year in the NHL Player’s Assistance program. Campbell could prove a longer-term fill-in once he gets a few games under his belt, should Detroit want Cossa to continue receiving routine ice time.
Leafs Place Jani Hakanpaa On IR, Recall Marshall Rifai
The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed defenseman Jani Hakanpaa on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, retroactive to November 16th. Hakanpaa will be eligible to be activated as soon as he’s healthy, though no specifics have been provided on Hakanpaa’s injury or timeline. In a corresponding move, the Maple Leafs have recalled defender Marshall Rifai from the Toronto Marlies. It’s Rifai’s first call-up of the season after clearing waivers and getting assigned to the minors on October 7th.
It’s not clear if Hakanpaa’s lower-body injury is connected to the knee injury that delayed his start to the season. He underwent an arthroscopic procedure last Spring, after his 2023-24 season was cut short in mid-March. He didn’t need any further testing after that procedure, and went on to sign a two-year deal with Toronto on July 1st – though the deal wasn’t formalized until September 11th, when it was adjusted to a one-year deal.
Hakanpaa didn’t return to full health until November 13th. He’s stepped into the lineup twice this season, recording no scoring, four blocked shots, and a -1. He was apparently injured in his second appearance, and has missed Toronto’s four games since. Hakanpaa has rotated into the bottom of Toronto’s blue-line with Simon Benoit and Conor Timmins. That role will now be handed to Rifai, who’s recorded four points – split evenly – through 17 AHL games this season. He has also recorded a Marlies-leading +10.
Rifai played in the first two NHL games of his career last season, recording no scoring and a +1. He averaged just-under 12 minutes of ice time in the pair of outings. Rifai has spent the bulk of the last two seasons in the AHL since signing as an undrafted college free agent in 2022. He recorded 25 points in 126 games across the pair of seasons.
Evening Notes: Bunting, Team Canada, Heinola
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Michael Bunting earned praise last night from his head coach Mike Sullivan (as per Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports). Sullivan compared Bunting to former Penguins player Patric Hornqvist, saying that Bunting has the ability to get under the opponent’s skin.
It wasn’t that long ago that Bunting appeared to be getting under the skin of Sullivan, as the 29-year-old had just a single assist in his first 12 games this season. Bunting found himself a healthy scratch in mid-October and had to work his way out of the doghouse and back into the lineup. November wasn’t exactly a month to remember, but it did enough to quiet trade rumors as Bunting was back to his usual production, posting five goals and four assists in 14 games.
In other evening notes:
- TSN’s Pierre LeBrun tweeted that Team Canada’s 4-nations roster has been finalized and will be announced after the deadline tomorrow. LeBrun added that the final decisions were made last night and the decision on the final few roster spots was quite difficult. Team Canada already named their first six players back in June, and those names were Sidney Crosby, Cale Makar, Connor McDavid, Brad Marchand, Brayden Point and Nathan MacKinnon.
- Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ville Heinola was scratched once again today, marking the second game in a row he has sat in the press box (as per Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press). The 23-year-old was recalled from his AHL conditioning assignment last Sunday and played twice this past week, going scoreless while averaging 13:01 in ice time per game. Logan Stanley remained in the Jets lineup today, presumably over Heinola, and struggled as he took three minor penalties against the Stars.
West Notes: Avalanche, Wild, Ehlers
The Colorado Avalanche have assigned forwards Ivan Ivan, Nikita Prishchepov, and Chris Wagner to the minor leagues in what appears to be a paper transaction. The move will help Colorado accrue morsels of salary cap before their next game on Tuesday. Injuries have continued to pile up in Colorado, pushing all three players into Saturday’s loss to Edmonton.
Ivan stamped his spot on the third line with a two-goal game last week, but he hasn’t managed any more scoring in the three games since. Still, he’s received far more attention than Wagner and Prishchepov, who respectively recorded a measly five and six minutes of ice time in Colorado’s last game. The trio make up the bulk of Colorado’s bottom-six ice time, and the Avalanche will now take advantage of their waiver exemption status to bank some daily cap space.
In other Western Conference notes:
- Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin reportedly did not want to include defenseman Daemon Hunt in the trade package the was used to pluck David Jiricek from the Columbus Blue Jackets yesterday (as per Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News). The Wild sent Hunt and four draft picks to Columbus to acquire Jiricek and a fifth-round pick, and Guerin told the media that he hated including Hunt in the deal but felt that the price he paid to acquire the former sixth-overall pick was fair. The Wild paid a heavy price to acquire the 21-year-old Jiricek, but if he develops into the defenseman the Wild expect, he and current Wild defender Brock Faber will give the team a solid core to build around for years to come.
- Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers missed today’s game against the Dallas Stars and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury (as per Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press). Jets head coach Scott Arniel didn’t have much in the way of an update after today’s game but did tell the media that Ehlers will see the team doctors in Winnipeg tomorrow. Ehlers is in the final season of a seven-year $42MM contract and will become an unrestricted free agent next July. The 28-year-old has had a fantastic start to the season with nine goals and 16 assists in 24 games.
Canadiens Place Rafaël Harvey-Pinard On Waivers
12/1: Harvey-Pinard has cleared waivers and been assigned to the AHL’s Laval Rocket.
11/30: According to a team announcement, the Montreal Canadiens are ready to activate forward Rafaël Harvey-Pinard from the long-term injured reserve. Harvey-Pinard won’t return to the Canadiens once his LTIR conditioning loan concludes as the organization shared they’ve placed him on waivers.
It’s been a long road to recovery for Harvey-Pinard after undergoing surgery in late July to repair a broken leg. He’s been on the shelf ever since with his last game in Montreal coming on the final game of the 2023-24 regular season.
His offensive output depressed last season going from scoring 20 points in 34 contests during the 2022-23 season to scoring 10 points in 45 games last year. His recent conditioning stint in Laval didn’t do much to inspire confidence as Harvey-Pinard only managed one goal in five games with a -4 rating.
He’ll get an extended look in the AHL should he clear waivers by tomorrow afternoon. It’s been two years since Harvey-Pinard spent significant time with the AHL Rocket scoring 16 goals and 31 points in 40 games during the 2022-23 AHL season. Montreal will also eliminate $1.1MM from their LTIR pool no matter what happens with Harvey-Pinard.
The Canadiens will have a home for Harvey-Pinard should he recover his confidence in the AHL. Montreal is 21st in the league in scoring with a number of their goals coming from the combination of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. The organization hopes that Harvey-Pinard will regain his offensive capabilities in the AHL to re-capture a consistent role in the team’s middle six.