Red Wings Return Jack Campbell From Emergency Recall
12/15: The Red Wings organization announced they’ve returned Campbell to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. The roster move likely means Talbot will be healthy enough to return to the lineup before Detroit takes on the Philadelphia Flyers on December 18th.
12/13: With Cam Talbot re-aggravating his injury in practice today and Alex Lyon still not ready to return, the Red Wings need a second goalie for their game tomorrow against Toronto. Rather than bringing prospect Sebastian Cossa back up, they’ve elected to go in a different direction; the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Jack Campbell from AHL Grand Rapids on an emergency basis.
Detroit signed the 32-year-old to a one-year, one-way deal worth the league minimum in free agency this summer after Edmonton elected to buy out the final three years of his contract back in June, paying him $9MM over the next six years not to play for them. That came on the heels of a disastrous 2023-24 campaign that saw him put up a 4.50 GAA and a .873 SV% in five early-season outings, eventually resulting in him being waived and sent to the minors.
However, Campbell hasn’t played much this season. He entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program late in the preseason and was away from the team for six weeks. Upon his return, he was immediately waived and after passing through unclaimed, he was sent to the Griffins. Campbell has played in just two games since being sent down, posting a 2.55 GAA and a .919 SV% in those outings.
Ville Husso has been the primary starter for Detroit as of late thanks to the injuries and that’s likely to be the case versus the Maple Leafs rather than Campbell getting the nod against one of his former teams. But rather than pulling Cossa back up so quickly, the Red Wings have opted to give him the steadier minutes with the Griffins, giving Campbell at least a shot at a brief NHL stint until either Talbot or Lyon can return.
Senators Recall Leevi Meriläinen, Reassign Zack Ostapchuk
The Ottawa Senators will be without goaltender Anton Forsberg for an undisclosed period due to injury and with that, the team needed a netminder. Ottawa announced they’ve recalled goaltender Leevi Meriläinen from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, and have reassigned forward Zack Ostapchuk the other way in a corresponding roster move.
It would be a surprise to see Meriläinen play meaningful minutes with the Senators with his last bit of work with the team coming in the 2022-23 NHL season. Meriläinen started two games for Ottawa that year as his only NHL experience and he finished with a 0-1-1 record and a .878 save percentage.
The former 71st overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft has understandably been more effective with AHL Belleville. Meriläinen has managed a solid 20-11-5 record in 41 AHL contests with a career .908 SV% and 2.65 GAA. Still, it’ll be difficult for the Senators to turn away from Linus Ullmark who’s posted a .966 SV% over his last five starts.
Returning to AHL Belleville is Ostapchuk, who’s been a mildly used forward for the Senators this year. He’s tallied two assists in 16 contests while averaging 9:16 of ice time per game.
As much as Ostapchuk might want to remain in Ottawa he won’t be confined to a fourth-line role for the next few games at the very least. He’s suited up in nine games for Belleville this season where he’s collected one goal and eight points in total.
Blues Looking To Move Brandon Saad
The St. Louis Blues made a surprising acquisition yesterday morning by trading for Cam Fowler from the Anaheim Ducks. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the organization isn’t done making moves just yet.
On yesterday’s rendition of ‘Saturday Headlines’, Friedman reports that the Blues are looking to move on from veteran winger Brandon Saad after making him a healthy scratch last night.
Any trade involving Saad would involve some hurdles. He’s not performing up to his $4.5MM salary for this year and next, not to mention a full no-trade clause for this season that turns into a 12-team no-trade list next year.
Based on Friedman’s description of the environment, Saad appears willing to amend his no-trade protection to facilitate a deal. Still, that doesn’t make other teams more interested in adding an aging winger struggling to score.
Saad rebounded from a disappointing 2022-23 season with a 26-goal, 42-point effort last year. He played in all 82 regular season games for the first time since the 2017-18 season and posted the strongest possession numbers of his career as a member of the Blues organization.
His play hasn’t been as promising this year. Saad has scored four goals and 10 points in 27 games for St. Louis this season which would be his lowest goal-per-game pace since his sophomore campaign in the 2012-13 season.
This is likely the main contributing factor in St. Louis’ inability to move Saad at this point in the regular season. Many competitive teams don’t have the cap space necessary to acquire Saad and they’d likely want to use it on a player projecting higher than 12 goals on the campaign.
Islanders Recall Pierre Engvall, Place Semyon Varlamov On IR
Sunday: According to Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports, the Islanders have recalled Engvall back to the NHL, making the waiver process a bit of a formality. New York won’t have to place Engvall on waivers for another 30 days giving the organization some added flexibility. Gross also shares that the team has placed goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who’s missed the last eight games with a lower-body injury, on injured reserve retroactive to November 29th.
Saturday: Engvall cleared waivers, Friedman reports. When he’s re-assigned to Bridgeport, they will free up a pro-rated $1.15MM in cap space. As for Wahlstrom, he was claimed by Boston.
Friday: The Islanders have placed wingers Pierre Engvall and Oliver Wahlstrom on waivers for the purposes of assignment to AHL Bridgeport, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
After the Isles clear their roster spots tomorrow, they’ll have increased flexibility to activate their trio of injured skaters – Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech – from injured reserve. All three have practiced this week without a non-contact designation.
Engvall thus ends up on the wire for the second time this season. The 28-year-old tumbled down the Islanders’ depth chart during training camp and ended up on waivers before opening night rosters were due. After he managed 10 goals and 28 points in 74 games last season, it was no surprise to see him pass through unclaimed with a whopping six years and $18MM left on the seven-year deal he signed to remain on Long Island in 2023. As such, the likelihood of him being claimed this time remains slim.
In his 20-game call-up since being summoned in place of Duclair in October, Engvall has three goals and six points with a -3 rating. He’s been a healthy scratch three times in the last seven games, so it’s unsurprising to see him being one of the odd ones out to make way for their stars’ return. Waiving him also offers them the most significant possible financial benefit, which is an important consideration as they must navigate cap compliance while activating Barzal and Duclair from LTIR. They won’t be able to bury all of Engvall’s $3MM cap hit in the minors, but they will be able to shed a total of $2.15MM in cap hits combined between him and Wahlstrom.
In six games with Bridgeport in October, Engvall had just one goal. It was his first AHL action since the 2019-20 campaign as a member of the Maple Leafs organization.
Wahlstrom has been the less productive of the pair this season. While the Islanders avoided exposing the 2018 11th overall pick to waivers for as long as possible, there’s no better time than now. The 24-year-old Maine native has just two goals and four points in 27 games this season, averaging a career-low 10:04 per game.
A restricted free agent last summer, the Islanders came to terms on a one-year, $1MM deal for Wahlstrom before his scheduled arbitration hearing. Unfortunately, that choice precipitated Wahlstrom’s worst showing yet as an NHLer. While his offensive production never jumped off the page like they’d hoped, he was at least a semi-effective physical presence. He hasn’t been that at all this season, logging only seven hits in 27 games – his first time averaging under one per game. He also has an abysmal 38% shot attempt share at even strength and a 33.3% expected goals share, creating an argument for Wahlstrom as one of the least valuable skaters in the league.
Now in his sixth NHL season, Wahlstrom may be too far along in his development to be considered a legitimate bounce-back candidate with a change of scenery. Nonetheless, the former electric scoring threat in juniors may have at least one taker on the waiver wire as his $1MM cap hit is fully buriable in the minors if he doesn’t work out.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Evening Notes: Parssinen, Kuzmenko, Dumba
The Nashville Predators have continued to be one of the NHL’s busiest teams this season, making trades to revamp their goaltending and move out stalling veterans in favor of top prospects. It seems the latter trend could continue, with the team eyeing trades for forward Juuso Parssinen per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the latest 32 Thoughts. Friedman compared the rumors to Nashville’s separating from Philip Tomasino and Dante Fabbro, who have each found far more success in their new homes. Tomasino has three goals and four points in seven games with Pittsburgh, while Fabbro has seven points in 15 games with Columbus.
Parssinen has just five points through 15 games this season – four of which came in a four-game span in mid-November. He’s recorded no scoring and a -6 in seven games since that hot streak, losing grip on his third-line role along the way. This year marks Parssinen’s first with a full-time role on the Predators roster, after splitting the last two seasons between the NHL and AHL. He scored an admirable 25 points in 45 games as a rookie – coupled by nine points in 10 AHL games – in 2022-23. But Parssinen took a step back at both levels last season, scoring just 12 points in 44 NHL games and 25 points in 36 AHL games. Making the Predators roster out of training camp was an encouraging sign heading into this year, but after 15 games, the former seventh-round pick may no longer be a fit. His six-foot-three frame and serviceable play at center should draw plenty of attention from around the league, though his 42 points in 104 career games likely won’t earn Nashville a hefty return.
Other notes from around the league:
- Calgary Flames winger Andrei Kuzmenko is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Walker Duehr is expected to fill his role in Saturday’s game against Florida. Kuzmenko has just one goal and 10 points in 28 games this season. He was healthy scratched for three games at the start of the month, and has since recorded one point and a -2 in three games. He’ll need a return to full health to come with more confident scoring if he wants to ward off emerging prospects Duehr and Jakob Pelletier.
- Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer provided a bit of clarity into Matt Dumba‘s injury, telling Brian Rea of Bally Sports Southwest that he is somewhere between day-to-day and week-to-week. Dumba has missed Dallas’ last two games after suffering an upper-body injury in Sunday’s matchup against Calgary. He’s been oft-injured in his first year with the Stars, limited in or outright missing 10 of Dallas’ 28 games this season. That’s made adjusting to the new setting tough, evidenced by Dumba’s one assist in 19 games – a team-low in scoring among players with more than a few games played. Dumba faced nagging injuries between 2018 and 2021, but rediscovered his health in the last two seasons. Unfortunately, he hasn’t found the scoring of his early career in the return. Once a 50-point scorer, Dumba posted just 26 points in 155 games between 2022-23 and 2023-24. He played for three teams – Minnesota, Arizona, and Tampa Bay – in that span.
Wild Place Jakub Lauko On IR, Recall Jesper Wallstedt
The Minnesota Wild have placed forward Jakub Lauko on injured reserve just a few hours after he left the team’s Saturday game against Philadelphia with a lower-body injury. Lauko played three minutes in the win. He’ll now have to miss at least seven days of action, making next Saturday’s matchup against Winnipeg his next chance to step into the lineup. In a corresponding, and surprising, move Minnesota has utilized an emergency recall on goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, suggesting some sort of injury to Filip Gustavsson. Gustavsson backed up Marc-Andre Fleury on Saturday. There’s been no indication of what he may be dealing with.
This news adds to a mounting list of injuries in Minnesota. Winger Mats Zuccarello and defender Jonas Brodin each returned from injury on Saturday – but the team is still without Joel Eriksson Ek, Jacob Middleton, and Yakov Trenin. The former two are both on IR, while the latter was ruled out of Saturday’s game just hours before it started due to an upper-body injury. Luckily, Trenin is only listed as questionable for the team’s Sunday game against Vegas per Michael Russo of The Athletic.
Even Lauko has faced an injury bug, returning on Tuesday from a previous lower-body injury that held him out of six games. It’s unclear if the two injuries are connected, but he’ll return to IR for the second time this season. The routine absences have made it hard for Lauko to find his footing in a new setting after a draft-day trade sent him to Minnesota for Vinni Lettieri and a swap of fourth-round picks. Lauko has recorded four points and a -6 in his first 23 games with the Wild – though he has found ground as a bruiser, ranking third on the team with 46 hits. Lauko is in his third NHL season, spending the previous two in Boston, where he combined for 17 points and 220 hits in 83 games.
The Wild deployed Reese Johnson in Trenin’s role on Saturday. Assuming Trenin returns soon, Johnson could slide over to fill Lauko’s role. Minnesota is also carrying Liam Ohgren and Devin Shore. Neither has scored at in the NHL this season – Ohgren in eight games and Shore in 11 – but they’re both top scorers in the minors. Ohgren has scored 11 points in 12 games for the AHL’s Iowa Wild, while Shore has 10 points in 14 games. Trying to get the monkey off either player’s back at the NHL level could be a good use of time, especially given Ohgren’s case for being Minnesota’s top prospect.
If not Ohgren, the top prospect title would likely go to Wallstedt, even amidst a struggling year. Wallstedt has a 5-6-1 record and .874 save percentage in 12 AHL games this season, including five games of allowing five-or-more goals. This recall could be the balancing piece, though his chance at seeing ice time will largely hinge on the severity of Gustavsson’s injury. Wallstedt played in his first three NHL games last season, setting a 2-1-0 record and .897 save percentage. He’s been the AHL starter since 2022-23, recording a much more encouraging 45-40-10 record and .905 Sv% in 95 games.
Sharks Activate Will Smith, Place Klim Kostin On IR
The San Jose Sharks have placed winger Klim Kostin on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Kostin left San Jose’s Thursday night win over St. Louis in the second period, after a scrum in the corner with a few Blues players. He didn’t appear to get hurt in the altercation, and no word on his official injury has come out. Kostin was a game-time decision for San Jose’s Tuesday loss to Carolina, after blocking a shot with his foot at practice – though he was ultimately able to play. It’s not clear if that lower-body injury is connected to this IR placement.
In a corresponding move, San Jose has activated top young forward William Smith off of IR. Smith spent the last four days on IR with an upper-body injury. He is expected to step right back into the Sharks’ lineup when they host Utah on Saturday. Smith hasn’t played since December 5th, but scored an impressive seven points in six games leading up to his injury. He’s up to 11 points through 24 games this season, after starting the year with no scoring in his first eight NHL games.
Swapping Kostin and Smith may be a jarring change in style, but it should be a seamless lineup change. Kostin earned a promotion to the third line in late November. He’s averaged over 13 minutes of ice time in six games since – a hefty step from his eight-minute-average in San Jose’s first 14 games. With Kostin now headed for the shelf, and newcomer Nikolai Kovalenko expected to round out the top-six next to Macklin Celebrini, the third-line wing will be a natural landing spot for the young Smith. The Sharks have averaged just 2.00 goals-per-game through five games in the month of December – setting Smith up to be an impactful sparkplug, if he can rediscover the scoring hot streak he was on before injury.
Minor Transactions: 12/14/24
It has been a busy Saturday on the transaction front across the NHL. We’ve covered several of them already but quite a few other teams have made minor moves. We’ll run through those here.
- Utah announced (Twitter link) that they’ve re-assigned defenseman Kevin Connauton to AHL Tucson. The veteran was recalled on Wednesday but with Utah claiming Dakota Mermis on Thursday, Connauton was no longer needed as a reserve defender. The 34-year-old has played in 17 games with the Roadrunners so far this season, notching three goals and three assists.
- The Senators announced (Twitter link) that forward Cole Reinhardt has been re-assigned to AHL Belleville, one day after being recalled. The 24-year-old has been quite productive in the minors so far, picking up five goals and ten assists in just 12 games which has helped earn him five games with Ottawa. In those outings, he has a goal and an assist, his first points at the NHL level.
- After being papered down on Thursday, the Blue Jackets have recalled goaltender Jet Greaves and winger Mikael Pyyhtia, per the AHL’s transactions log. Greaves made his 2024-25 Columbus debut on Thursday against Washington, making 35 saves on 37 shots in a losing effort. He has a 3.02 GAA and a .902 SV% in 15 appearances with the Monsters. As for Pyyhtia, the 22-year-old has played in 19 games with the Blue Jackets so far, collecting a goal and an assist while averaging 13:33 per night of playing time.
- After papering down defenseman Keaton Middleton and winger Givani Smith on Friday, the two are back up with the Avalanche, the team announced (Twitter link). Middleton has played in four games with the Avs this season in his first NHL action since the 2020-21 campaign; he has been held without a point while averaging 11:33 per night of ice time. Smith, meanwhile, was acquired as part of the Mackenzie Blackwood trade earlier this week after he cleared waivers. He has played in eight games between the two teams and is still looking for his first point of the season as well.
- After having his contract terminated earlier in the week, former San Jose prospect Valtteri Pulli has found his next home. HC Lugano of the Swiss NL announced that they’ve signed the blueliner for the remainder of the season. Pulli played in just two games with the AHL’s Barracuda before requesting his release earlier this week.
Canucks Looking To Move Vincent Desharnais
After establishing himself as a regular on Edmonton’s back end last season, Vincent Desharnais had enough of a market in free agency to secure a two-year, $4MM contract with Vancouver. However, things haven’t gone as well as planned and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Canucks are looking to find a better fit for the blueliner.
In 2023-24, Desharnais played in 78 regular season games with Edmonton. He averaged a little less than 16 minutes a night but logged big minutes on the penalty kill, making him a serviceable bottom-pairing defender. The 28-year-old also chipped in with 11 points, 122 blocked shots, and 135 hits. Desharnais also suited up in 16 of Edmonton’s 25 playoff contests, picking up 41 blocks and 40 hits while logging 17:15 per night.
Unfortunately for Desharnais and the Canucks, he hasn’t been able to play at the same level this season. He has been a healthy scratch multiple times already and his playing time has dipped a bit as well to just 15:08 per night while recording two assists, 23 hits, and 23 blocks. With Derek Forbort now healthy and Erik Brannstrom and Noah Juulsen playing well, Desharnais might be the seventh defenseman for the time being or at least be in a timeshare for playing time. It’s safe to say they were expecting him to be a regular when they signed him.
It’s worth noting that more than half of Desharnais’ total contract is paid in the form of signing bonuses; his base salary each season is the $775K league minimum. That means nearly half of the total compensation of the contract has already been paid out which might make him a bit more appealing to more budget-conscious teams. But with his early struggles and a $2MM cap charge for next season, the Canucks likely won’t be able to command much for Desharnais’ services.
However, if they can clear his contract, that would give them more ammunition from a cap space perspective to try to make a splash on the trade front closer to the trade deadline. While Filip Hronek is on LTIR, Vancouver has largely been able to stay out of using it, meaning they continue to bank extra room on a daily basis. Accordingly, it’s possible that GM Patrik Allvin looks to make that the priority over maximizing the trade return. Either way, it’s a situation that the Canucks likely weren’t anticipating when they signed Desharnais just over five months ago.
Canucks Recall Four From AHL
The Canucks have brought up some reinforcements before their game tonight against Boston. The team announced (Twitter link) that forwards Aatu Raty and Max Sasson along with defenseman Mark Friedman were recalled from AHL Abbotsford, reversing the paper assignments from Friday as expected. However, they also revealed that they’ve recalled goaltender Arturs Silovs using the emergency goaltender exemption.
Raty, Sasson, and Friedman have all been shuffled back and forth in an effort to keep Vancouver out of LTIR and banking as much cap space as possible. Raty has four points in 20 games so far this season while Sasson has four assists in nine outings with the Canucks. Playing time has been harder to come by for Friedman who has suited up just twice so far.
As for Silovs, he has spent most of the season on Vancouver’s roster with Thatcher Demko being sidelined for the first couple of months. However, he wasn’t able to play at the same level as he did last season and in the playoffs as he struggled to a 4.11 GAA and a .847 SV% in his first seven outings, leading to his re-assignment to the minors recently.
Vancouver only had three open roster spots (stemming from the three paper demotions yesterday) which meant that the Canucks had to use this exemption. Teams are limited to using this for a maximum of two times per season and Silovs can only be on the roster on this exemption for 48 hours. He’s taking the place of Kevin Lankinen as head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters including Sportsnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor (Twitter link) that the netminder is dealing with the flu.