Sabres Activate Ryan McLeod Off IR, Assign Tyson Kozak To AHL
As expected, the Sabres announced today that they have activated center Ryan McLeod off injured reserve. To make room for him on the active roster, center Tyson Kozak has been assigned back to AHL Rochester.
McLeod’s activation should come as little surprise as he was a full participant in practice on Friday with the team indicating at that time that he was expected to play against his former team today and line up on the second line. He winds up missing just three games with a nagging upper-body injury.
The 25-year-old was acquired from Edmonton in the summer along with prospect Tyler Tullio in exchange for prospect Matthew Savoie. He has fit in well with the Sabres and enters play today tied for sixth in team scoring with blueliner Owen Power. McLeod has 10 goals and 15 assists in 45 games this season while winning over 52% of his draws, the best rate of Buffalo’s full-time middlemen. He carries a $2.1MM cap charge this season and will be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights this summer.
As for Kozak, the 22-year-old has gotten into nine games with the Sabres this season during his three recalls, his first taste of NHL action. He has just one point – a goal – in those outings while blocking 14 shots in 10:36 of playing time.
Kozak is in his third professional season and generally hasn’t been particularly productive with the Amerks. He had 10 points in his rookie year and 12 last season. However, he has already matched that mark this season with six goals and six assists in 24 games in Rochester which should help his case as he’s set to become a restricted free agent with his entry-level deal expiring at the end of June.
Ryan Donato Receiving Trade Interest
While Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato has been pretty consistent over the years with his production, he hasn’t had much stability, lasting no longer than two seasons with each of his five NHL teams. It appears that trend may soon be continuing as Chris Johnston relays in his latest Trade Board for The Athletic (subscription link) that the 28-year-old is starting to attract some attention from other teams on the trade front.
Donato has put up at least 20 points in seven straight seasons now, including this one. While his career high in that department is 31 set back in 2021-22, he is well on his way to beating that. In 46 games so far with Chicago, he has 14 goals and 14 assists despite playing less than 15 minutes a night. On top of that, he has played down the middle more often than usual this season; that versatility will only help his trade value.
So too will a reasonable contract. Donato is in the final season of a two-year, $4MM deal signed back in 2023. That’s pretty good value for a player who currently sits third on the Blackhawks in points. The fact that Donato is having that success in more of a middle-six role should also be appealing as he’s likely to be in the bottom six on most contending teams where his 22 even-strength points will fit in well.
Considering Donato’s performance this season and the fact that Chicago is still trying to find the right mix of veterans to keep in the fold, there’s certainly a case to be made that the Blackhawks might be better off trying to re-sign him. Given how much he has bounced around, it’s possible he’d be interested in some stability in which case it might not cost considerably more to re-sign him.
But on the other hand, as someone who isn’t expected to be part of their long-term plans when their rebuild is completed, GM Kyle Davidson might simply elect to move him for the best possible offer, ensuring at least a return of some value for a low-risk addition just a year and a half ago. The Blackhawks have just one retention slot remaining following yesterday’s three-team swap so they could use it on Donato to make him affordable to even the most cap-strapped of teams which should only help his return. Either way, it looks like he’s a strong candidate to be moved by the March 7th deadline.
Islanders Sign Tony DeAngelo To One-Year Deal
Saturday: DeAngelo has passed through waivers unclaimed, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. That paves the way for him to officially join the Islanders.
Friday: The Islanders signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Tony DeAngelo to a one-year deal on Friday, per a team announcement. He’ll join the club for the remainder of the 2024-25 season after recently being released by SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League, assuming he clears return waivers. The deal is worth the prorated league minimum of $775K with no bonuses, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports.
DeAngelo, 29, generated little interest on the open market last summer after completing a one-year, $1.675MM contract with the Hurricanes. He reportedly approached the Oilers about a professional tryout shortly before training camp, but the interest wasn’t mutual. DeAngelo then inked a one-year deal to head to Russia for the first time, a move that had been rumored for much of the latter half of the offseason.
The power-play specialist told Larry Brooks of the New York Post in early December that he wasn’t optimistic about an NHL return, but it appears he felt an opportunity may be materializing when SKA released him on Jan. 13. The New Jersey native lit up the KHL in his brief run overseas, posting 32 points and a +15 rating in 34 games on a St. Petersburg roster that includes longtime Capital and brief Hurricanes teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov and Canadiens top prospect Ivan Demidov.
DeAngelo’s move overseas means he must clear the little-used return waiver process. It’s sometimes resulted in claims, including the Coyotes nabbing Harri Säteri off waivers from the Maple Leafs in 2022 after Toronto attempted to bring him over to bolster their goaltending depth.
The Islanders were in need of blue-line help, especially on the right side. Star defender Noah Dobson sustained a right leg injury Monday against the Blue Jackets and is out week-to-week, while depth puck-mover Mike Reilly remains on long-term injured reserve after undergoing heart surgery in November.
DeAngelo provides a power-play replacement for the duo but certainly can’t replicate Dobson’s minutes at even strength. He returned to Carolina for his second stint with the Hurricanes last season after being bought out for the second time in his career by the Flyers. However, he was limited to 11 points in 31 games and averaged a paltry 14:20 per game while sitting in the press box for most of the back half of the campaign.
The 5’11” righty has 210 points in 371 career NHL games, 89 of which have come on the power play. His 0.57 points per game since debuting in the 2016-17 season ranks 30th among defenders with at least 100 games played during that timeframe.
Defensive deficiencies and constant unavailability due to external and internal suspensions have limited DeAngelo’s ceiling as a top-four option for most of his career. He most notably spent nearly all of the 2020-21 campaign with the Rangers on their taxi squad after an altercation with then-teammate Alexandar Georgiev and was bought out at season’s end, coming just one year after he finished 12th in Norris Trophy voting in 2019-20 with a career-best 53 points in 68 games.
A first-round pick by the Lightning in 2014, DeAngelo now joins his sixth NHL organization. He won’t be eligible to play tonight against the Flyers while on return waivers but could make his Isles debut against Carolina tomorrow if he clears.
The Islanders don’t have an open roster spot, but they won’t need one until DeAngelo’s waiver period ends. They’ll need to clear two places before the Carolina game, as winger Maxim Tsyplakov is also set to return from a three-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Philadelphia center Ryan Poehling last week. That will likely involve returning forward Marc Gatcomb to AHL Bridgeport and moving Dobson to IR, but they have a few other options too.
DeAngelo will most likely suit up as a third-pairing option while handling top-unit power-play duties in Dobson’s absence. Veterans Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield will presumably continue to lock down the Isles’ top two pairings on the right side.
Blue Jackets Notes: Jenner, Mateychuk, Sillinger, Monahan
Blue Jackets center Boone Jenner took to the ice today as he continues to work his way back from a shoulder injury sustained back in training camp, relays Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers (Twitter link). It’s the first time the captain has skated with the team since suffering the injury. Jenner has been a key middleman for Columbus for more than a decade when healthy although he has missed time with injuries for five straight years now. Considering he’s just starting to skate with the team now, it’s fair to suggest Jenner is still several weeks away from returning but with the Blue Jackets hanging around the playoff battle in the East, it’s possible that their big trade deadline addition to boost their roster could simply be getting him back in their lineup.
More from Columbus:
- The Blue Jackets will welcome defenseman Denton Mateychuk back to the lineup tonight against Los Angeles, notes Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 20-year-old had missed three straight games due to illness. Mateychuk has played in 12 games since being recalled late last month and has held his own in his first taste of NHL action with three points along with 21 blocked shots while averaging a little over 18 minutes a night of playing time. Mateychuk had gotten off to quite a strong start before that in the minors, collecting 25 points in 27 contests with Cleveland before being brought up.
- While they’re getting Mateychuk back, the same can’t be said for center Cole Sillinger. Team reporter Jeff Svoboda mentions (Twitter link) that the 21-year-old didn’t take the morning skate and thus is expected to miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury. Sillinger had a solid first half with 23 points in 45 games while seeing his playing time jump up to 17:40 per night.
- Compounding Jenner’s absence is that Sean Monahan (wrist) has also been out of the lineup for the past three weeks, weakening their already relatively thin center depth. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch mentions that while Jenner is hoping to be back after the 4 Nations Face-Off, Monahan is expected to be back before him so Columbus may not have to deal with being down their top two centers for too much longer.
Penguins Recall Bokondji Imama, Assign Owen Pickering To AHL
The Penguins have added some toughness to their roster heading into tonight’s game versus Seattle. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Bokondji Imama from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. To make room on the roster, blueliner Owen Pickering was sent to the minors.
Imama has yet to play in the NHL this season but has seen time at the top level in each of the last three seasons, spanning 15 games overall. In those outings, he has one goal along with 17 penalty minutes and 45 hits while averaging a little under six minutes a night of playing time.
The 28-year-old is a well-known pugilist in the minors, however. Imama has surpassed the 100-PIM mark in four of his five seasons in the minors and is on pace to do so again this season. Through 24 AHL appearances, he has 47 minutes in the box to go along with three goals and two assists. He’s playing on a one-year, two-way deal worth the league minimum of $775K.
As for Pickering, he’s in his first professional season after wrapping up his junior career last year. He started the season in the minors, getting into a dozen games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton where he had just a single goal before being recalled in mid-November.
Since then, the 20-year-old has largely played a regular role when healthy (though he did miss time with a concussion). Overall, Pickering has played in 25 games with Pittsburgh, collecting a goal and two assists in just under 15 minutes a night of playing time. He’ll now have a chance to play a bigger role for the time being in the minors. He carries a cap charge of $886.7K, meaning Pittsburgh will get some minor cap savings from these moves.
Senators Activate Travis Hamonic, Assign Donovan Sebrango To AHL
The Senators are welcoming back a veteran blueliner for their game against Toronto tonight. Per the NHL’s media site, blueliner Travis Hamonic has been activated off injured reserve. To make room on the roster, the team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Donovan Sebrango was assigned to AHL Belleville.
Hamonic has missed the last three weeks with a lower-body injury. Before then, he was a fixture on Ottawa’s third pairing, getting into 37 games. Offensively, the 34-year-old has been limited to just three assists although he has 58 blocked shots and 38 hits while averaging 17:25 of playing time per night, up nearly three minutes from his ATOI in 2023-24. Hamonic is in the final season of his contract, one that carries a $1.1MM AAV and a no-movement clause and he’ll once again be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As for Sebrango, he was recalled last week and got into two games with Ottawa, his first taste of NHL action. The 23-year-old didn’t record a point in those outings while averaging 10:19 of playing time. Sebrango has played in 28 games with Belleville this season, notching three goals and ten assists, both career-highs at that level. He’s in the final season of his entry-level deal and will be a restricted free agent this summer.
Canadiens Recall Rafael Harvey-Pinard
Montreal has added some extra forward depth in advance of their game tonight against New Jersey. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard from AHL Laval.
The 26-year-old started the season on injured reserve, missing the first 22 games with a leg injury. Following a conditioning stint with the Rocket, he then cleared waivers at the beginning of December and has been with them ever since. Harvey-Pinard has played in 24 games with Laval this season, recording four goals and seven assists.
Harvey-Pinard has seen extensive NHL time in the last two years. In 2022-23, he impressed as a midseason recall, ultimately collecting 14 goals and six assists in 34 games. That helped earn him a two-year, $2.2MM contract in the 2023 offseason. But things didn’t go as well for him last year as he was limited to just two goals and eight helpers in 45 appearances while also missing time due to injuries.
Montreal hasn’t had much success filling Emil Heineman‘s spot on the fourth line since he was struck by a car in Utah last week. Veteran Michael Pezzetta has been given several looks but has failed to clear five minutes of playing time in any of his last seven games. Prospect Owen Beck received a two-game look but has since been returned to the minors and now it appears Harvey-Pinard will get a chance to reclaim his spot from last season on that line.
With the recall, Montreal’s active roster is now full. Jayden Struble remains on the roster while on a conditioning loan to Laval while despite Heineman’s injury, they’ve elected not to place him on injured reserve just yet.
Maple Leafs Place Connor Dewar On Injured Reserve, Recall Nikita Grebenkin
The Maple Leafs have made a pair of roster moves heading into tonight’s Battle of Ontario against Ottawa. The team announced (Twitter link) that they have placed center Connor Dewar on injured reserve. Taking his place on the roster is winger Nikita Grebenkin who was recalled from AHL Toronto.
Dewar was acquired by the Maple Leafs at the trade deadline last season in a move intended to add some extra depth down the middle and help on the penalty kill. He wound up with 11 goals and eight assists in 79 games between Minnesota and Toronto while suiting up in six of their seven playoff contests. That helped earn him a one-year, $1.18MM deal from the Maple Leafs this past summer. He’ll be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent at that time.
But things haven’t gone as well for the 25-year-old this season. Dewar, who is dealing with an upper-body injury at the moment, missed 14 games with a shoulder injury earlier in the year and has even been healthy scratched periodically as well. When he has played, Dewar has been quite limited as he has just three assists in 29 games while his playing time is just over ten minutes a night compared to nearly 13 down the stretch with them last season. The placement is retroactive to January 20th so he’ll be eligible to return as soon as Wednesday against his former team in Minnesota.
As for Grebenkin, he’s in his first season in North America after putting up 41 points in 67 KHL games last season. He has spent the bulk of the campaign with the Marlies, posting eight goals and eight assists in 29 games. He did get into seven games with the Maple Leafs earlier in the season and was held off the scoresheet while recording 13 hits in 8:45 of playing time per night.
Lightning Acquire Ryder Korczak From Rangers
The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired forward prospect Ryder Korczak from the New York Rangers in exchange for forward prospect Lucas Edmonds. Both players are in the midst of their third AHL season, after third-round selections in the 2021 and 2022 drafts respectively.
Neither player has managed much scoring in their early pro careers. Korczak has spent slightly longer in an NHL system. He was originally selected 75th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, after a season of being heralded as a second-to-third round pick. He was admired for his hard-working two-way play, high scoring, and leadership abilities through four years with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors. He worked his way up to a staggering 69 points in 48 games in 2022-23, his final WHL season, before joining the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack for five games at the end of the year. Korczak has since worked his way through a middle-six role in Hartford. He scored 20 points in 67 games last season and is currently riding 11 points in 35 games this year. It’s commendable depth scoring, but far from what New York was hoping for from their gritty third-rounder.
After not landing a draft selection in 2019, 2020, or 2021 – the early-birthday Edmonds finally earned the 86th-overall selection in 2022 after posting 113 points in 68 games with the Kingston Frontenacs. He moved to the AHL in the following season and posted a commendable 15 goals and 27 points in 49 games as a rookie. But Edmonds has struggled to match those numbers since, totaling just 21 points in 71 games through the last two seasons.
Korczak and Edmonds share a lot of parallels – and will now get a chance to use a change of scenery to try and return to the heights of their junior scoring.
Hurricanes Acquire Mikko Rantanen And Taylor Hall In Three-Team Swap
Blackhawks winger Taylor Hall was a late scratch from their game tonight against Tampa Bay. His absence wasn’t injury or illness-related, however, as he was traded to Carolina. He wasn’t the only one on the move, however, as the Hurricanes also picked up Mikko Rantanen as part of a three-team swap. The full deal, which has now been announced by all three teams, is as follows:
To Carolina: Taylor Hall, Mikko Rantanen (Chicago retains 50% of his contract), Nils Juntorp
To Chicago: CHI 3rd-round pick in 2025 (via Carolina)
To Colorado: Martin Necas, Jack Drury, 2025 second-round pick, 2026 fourth-round pick
Hall was widely speculated as a trade candidate going back to the start of the season. Now in the final year of his contract (one that carries a $6MM AAV), the veteran recently indicated that he’d be open to remaining with the Blackhawks but admitted that a trade was the likeliest outcome. That departure came a bit sooner than expected with the trade deadline still six weeks away.
The 33-year-old is in his second season with Chicago after being acquired in a cap-clearing move from Boston back in 2023. He was limited to just ten games in 2023-24 though due to a torn ACL but he has remained healthy so far this season. However, production has been difficult to come by this year as he has just nine goals and 15 assists in 46 games and was even made a healthy scratch earlier in the season.
In his prime, Hall was a legitimate top-line winger and even won the Hart Trophy back in 2015-16 while with New Jersey. He has been a 20-goal scorer seven times in his 15-year career, most recently coming in 2021-22 with Boston. While he’s no longer playing at that type of level, he should still be able to give Carolina a boost in their middle six. A potentially long playoff run could also help him rebuild some value heading into free agency this summer.
As for Rantanen, he’s also in the final year of his contract, a deal that carries a $9.25MM price tag, one that the Blackhawks will eat half of to help facilitate the swap, leaving them with just one remaining retention slot for this season. While Rantanen’s camp and the Avs were involved in recent extension discussions, the two sides were still well apart as of last week and clearly, they weren’t able to bridge those to either side’s satisfaction, resulting in Colorado deciding to move him now instead of run the risk of having him walk for nothing in free agency. It was believed that the Avalanche preferred to keep Rantanen’s price below Nathan MacKinnon‘s $12.6MM while Rantanen’s side was eyeing Leon Draisaitl‘s $14MM AAV (starting next season) as a benchmark. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds (Twitter link) that there is no extension in place with Carolina at this time.
Rantanen has consistently been one of the NHL’s top scorers in recent years. Only three players have more points than him since the start of the 2020-21 season, Connor McDavid, MacKinnon, and Draisaitl, certainly lofty company to be in. The 28-year-old has recorded more than 100 points in each of the last two years and is well on his way toward extending that streak. Rantanen has 25 goals and 39 assists in 49 games this season, good for sixth in NHL scoring. He’ll undoubtedly be a big boost to a Carolina attack that’s already among the best in the league, checking in at fourth overall in goals scored.
Necas, like Hall, had been in a lot of trade speculation, especially over the summer. At one point, it looked as if he’d be moved back at the draft amid reports that he had indicated that he’d welcome a change of scenery but that didn’t materialize. Instead, the two sides ultimately settled on a two-year, $13MM deal in July, a deal that gave him a fair-sized raise but also didn’t give Carolina any extra team control.
Two years ago, Necas had a breakout year, posting 28 goals and 43 assists in 82 games. Unfortunately for him and the Hurricanes, those numbers dropped last season to 24 and 29 respectively. However, things have been much better for the 26-year-old this season, as he has 16 goals and 39 assists in 49 games; his 55 points lead the team in scoring. But even with that, GM Eric Tulsky has decided that a significant shakeup to his forward group is required and these two moves certainly count as a significant shakeup.
Necas will likely slot in where Rantanen was on Colorado’s top line and a chance to play with MacKinnon could allow his individual production to flourish. That would certainly be an ideal situation to be in considering he’ll become extension-eligible on July 1st when he’ll have some more leverage only being a year away from hitting the UFA market.
Drury’s first full NHL campaign came last season and it was a good one as he had eight goals and 19 assists in 74 games while winning over 55% of his faceoffs. That helped earn him a two-year, $3.45MM contract over the summer. However, production has been harder to come by for him this season as the 24-year-old has just three goals and six assists through 39 games although his faceoff win percentage is up to 58.8%.
Colorado’s bottom six group has been an area of some concern for a couple of years now with the team churning through numerous players with varying degrees of minimal success. While Drury isn’t producing much more than many of those players, he’ll give the Avs some desired stability down the middle while his faceoff prowess will fit in well on a team that has a success rate at the dot of just 44.5%. They also get some club control over Drury who isn’t UFA-eligible until 2028.
Juntorp was a sixth-round pick by Chicago in 2022 and is included in the swap as the Blackhawks had to send something out beyond Hall to make the three-team element of the deal work. He has 20 points in 25 games with HC Dalen in the Hockey Ettan along with three appearances with Vasteras in the second-tier Allsvenskan.
In the end, Carolina has clearly signaled its intentions to go all-in this season and managed to upgrade its roster without touching any of its future assets. They’ll dip into LTIR for the time being to afford the swap. Colorado, meanwhile, ensures that they’ll get a top-line talent and some other pieces in exchange for Rantanen, giving them an extra year of club control along the way. They also free up a bit of cap space in the process which they’ll likely put to use in the coming weeks. As for Chicago, their return is certainly underwhelming as Hall is effectively given away in this deal while only receiving a third-round pick for eating half of Rantanen’s contract. However, they were able to clear the full freight of Hall’s contract, giving them one more retention slot to utilize before the deadline.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic first reported the three-team element and Chicago’s acquisition of the third-round pick. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was the first to report Colorado’s involvement in the deal. The Athletic’s Arthur Staple first reported that Necas was part of the swap. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan was first with Drury’s inclusion and the two picks going to Colorado.
Photos courtesy of Imagn Images.