Kraken Acquire Daniel Sprong From Canucks
It appears Daniel Sprong will be returning to a team he’s already familiar with. The Canucks announced that they have dealt the winger to the Kraken in exchange for future considerations.
Sprong has been a productive player over the last couple of seasons but it hasn’t resulted in him getting much stability. In 2022-23, he had a breakout year in Seattle, notching 21 goals and 25 assists in 66 games. Before that, his previous career-high in points was 23. However, despite only being owed a qualifying offer of $787.5K, Seattle opted to non-tender him, getting out of a potential arbitration hearing in the process.
Still, the 27-year-old was able to do relatively well in free agency in 2023, landing a one-year, $2MM deal with Detroit. He showed that his production the year before wasn’t a one-off, as he collected 18 goals and 25 assists in 76 games while only averaging 12 minutes a night of action. But once again, he was non-tendered as the Red Wings opted to avoid the risk of arbitration as well.
Unfortunately for Sprong, the market wasn’t as strong this time around. It took nearly three weeks into free agency before he found a contract when Vancouver signed him to a one-year, $975K contract, cutting his pay from the year before by more than half in the process. It looked like a relatively shrewd pickup for a Canucks franchise that didn’t have much salary cap flexibility but wanted to add more offensive depth.
But things didn’t go as planned. Sprong has been healthy scratched three times already this season and when he has played, he hasn’t been able to produce at the same level, tallying just one goal and two assists in nine games while averaging 11:39 per night. Clearly, Vancouver had seen enough and decided the time was right to move on.
The Canucks are expected to welcome Dakota Joshua back to the lineup soon and it appears that this move will open up the roster spot to do so. In the meantime, they’ve upped their cap space to over $1.9MM per PuckPedia, giving them much more in-season flexibility than they’ve had in recent years. As for Seattle, they’re presently in LTIR and this move will push them a little deeper into it. However, they’re still close enough to the $88MM cap that it shouldn’t be too difficult to get back under that amount when Vince Dunn is able to return.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the trade.
New Jersey Devils Recall Nick DeSimone
The New Jersey Devils had an opening on defense after reassigning Simon Nemec to the AHL’s Utica Comets yesterday. To fill that opening, the organization recalled defenseman Nick DeSimone.
DeSimone has suited up in NHL games for the last two years despite spending the past eight seasons in professional hockey. After signing as a collegiate free agent out of Union College, he began his professional career in the San Jose Sharks system.
His contractual rights bounced from the Vegas Golden Knights to the New York Rangers organization before finally landing as an unrestricted free agent with the Calgary Flames. It was with the Flames that DeSimone ultimately made his NHL debut securing four games played in the 2022-23 season.
Last year garnered the most playing time for DeSimone at the NHL level as he managed one goal and five points in 23 games with the Flames. He became a piece in Calgary’s blue-line exodus from last year after being claimed off waivers by the Devils in late January.
DeSimone scored one goal and two points with the Devils in 11 games down the stretch. His play for the team turned into a one-year, $775K extension on June 24, 2024.
Unfortunately for DeSimone, he’s more of a roster filler at this point with the Devils. He’s off to a dismal start in the AHL this year with two assists in nine games and a -10 rating. Even if New Jersey experiences on the blue line, they’ll likely make a call-up rather than give DeSimone meaningful minutes.
Kings’ Tanner Jeannot Receives Three Game Suspension
5:43 PM: The Department of Player Safety announced Jeannot has been suspended three games for the hit on Boeser last night.
10:30 AM: The NHL Department of Player Safety announced today that Kings winger Tanner Jeannot will have a hearing today for an illegal check to the head against Canucks star Brock Boeser. It’s not an in-person hearing, so his pending suspension will be five games or less.
The incident occurred midway through the first period of last night’s 4-2 road win for Vancouver. Immediately after Boeser completed a neutral-zone pass, Jeannot attempted to lay an open-ice hit on Boeser while crossing the other direction. He led with his shoulder, making contact with Boeser’s head and knocking him out of the game (video via Lachlan Irvine of Canucks Army). Officials assessed Jeannot a match penalty on the play, initiating an automatic league review for supplemental discipline.
Vancouver has yet to give Boeser an injury designation, so he remains uncertain for tomorrow’s game against the Oilers. Hearings that do not result in suspensions are rare, so the Kings are undoubtedly preparing to be without Jeannot tomorrow against the Blue Jackets and potentially for a couple of more games afterward. The heavy-hitting power forward has never been suspended in his 242-game NHL career, but he has been fined once before for kneeing Senators captain Brady Tkachuk in March 2022.
The 15 PIMs assessed to Jeannot last night gave him 36 on the season, the most in the league. Through his first 15 games as a King, the 27-year-old has struggled to produce offensively, with just a goal and an assist while averaging 10:28 per game. So far, it’s not the resurgence L.A. hoped for when they parted ways with a pair of draft picks to acquire him from the Lightning in June. He hasn’t been a legitimate top-nine player offensively since his rookie season when he potted 24 goals and 41 points in 81 games for the Predators in 2021-22.
Three years later, it’s become clear that his play that season was more of a flash in the pan than anything else. In 146 games since for the Preds, Bolts and Kings, he has just 14 goals and 34 points with a -18 rating. Upon completing the two-year, $5.33MM deal he signed with Tampa Bay in 2023, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Penguins Activate Bryan Rust, Place Cody Glass On IR
The Pittsburgh Penguins will have one forward in the lineup tonight exchanged for another. The organization announced it has activated Bryan Rust off the injured reserve while placing Cody Glass on it.
Rust has been dealing with a lower-body injury for the last little while, and it’s related to the injury that kept him out of the lineup at the beginning of the season. The veteran didn’t make his 2024-25 debut until October 12th and managed three goals and four points in eight contests before re-aggravating the lower-body concern on October 26th.
The Penguins expect Rust to serve in a top-six role this evening and could even rediscover his role on the team’s first line. He’s typically been Sidney Crosby‘s linemate, but the team may opt for Rust to play on the second line in light of Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell playing on the captain’s wings.
It’s not all good news on the injury front in Pittsburgh. Glass, who’s nursing an upper-body injury, lands on the injured reserve for the first time this season.
After leaving the contest without a return, Glass was seemingly injured in last night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. In his first year with the franchise, he’s played in 14 contests for the Penguins but has only collected four assists while posting a -7 rating.
He’s primarily played in a bottom-six role averaging 11:48 of ice time per game so there shouldn’t be too much roster maneuvering for Pittsburgh. Still, with the team sitting toward the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings, it’s more insult to injury for Pittsburgh.
Jets Activate, Reassign Jaret Anderson-Dolan
In a minor move heading into the weekend, the Winnipeg Jets activated forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan and reassigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. Anderson-Dolan signed a two-year, $1.55MM with the Jets on the second day of free agency this past offseason.
Anderson-Dolan landed on the injured reserve shortly before the regular season started due to a broken foot. He featured in three preseason contests for the Jets but failed to find the scoresheet besides posting a +1 rating.
He’ll likely feature as a flex forward in Winnipeg for much of the season. If the last few seasons are any indication, Anderson-Dolan should spend most of his time in the AHL unless there’s an injury at the NHL level.
Aside from a few injuries, Anderson-Dolan suited up for the Los Angeles Kings from 2018-2023 collecting 15 goals and 28 points in 126 games. The Nashville Predators claimed Anderson-Dolan off waivers last season but he only featured in one game.
He’ll now head to a Moose team that’s struggled out of the gates to start the 2024-25 AHL campaign. After qualifying for the Calder Cup playoffs last year as the fifth-ranked team in the Central Division, the Moose have started this year 3-5-0-0 and sit seventh in the division.
Maple Leafs Place Auston Matthews On IR, Activate Connor Dewar
The Maple Leafs have moved Auston Matthews to injured reserve with his upper-body injury retroactive to Nov. 3, the team announced. They’re using the open spot to reinstate forward Connor Dewar from his LTIR conditioning loan and add him to the active roster.
The IR placement only minimally affects Matthews’ timeline for a return. Head coach Craig Berube already told reporters that the superstar would miss his second straight game tonight against the Red Wings and that he was doubtful for tomorrow’s game against the Canadiens. He’s now been ruled out against Montreal thanks to the move to IR but could return for Tuesday’s matchup against the Senators. He’ll miss at least three games in total with the ailment, which he’s been playing through for a good chunk of the season.
Meanwhile, Dewar was one of two players for the Leafs in the AHL on LTIR conditioning stints. They assigned both he and defenseman Jani Hakanpää to the minors at the beginning of the month as they each got their feet back under them after offseason surgeries – in Dewar’s case, a shoulder procedure. LTIR conditioning stints can only last up to three games or six days, and the time constraint ends today. The lack of news regarding Hakanpää indicates he’s not entirely cleared to return to full-time action and will remain on LTIR for a tad longer.
Matthews’ IR placement buys the Leafs a little bit of time, but they’ll still need to make a roster move when the captain is ready to return next week and another one when Hakanpää is eventually ready to play. They have $1.83MM left in their LTIR pool after today’s transactions with Hakanpää, Calle Järnkrok and Dakota Mermis still on the list.
In his lone appearance on his conditioning stint, Dewar had a goal and an assist in what amounted to his first AHL action since the 2021-22 campaign. Acquired from the Wild at last season’s trade deadline, Dewar had a goal and four assists in 17 games for Toronto down the stretch and avoided arbitration over the summer with a one-year, $1.18MM settlement.
The high-energy 5’10” forward can play both center and wing and was a fixture on the Leafs’ penalty kill to close out 2023-24, averaging nearly two-and-a-half minutes per game shorthanded. He’s projected to serve as a healthy scratch against Detroit tonight while Steven Lorentz, David Kämpf and Ryan Reaves remain in fourth-line roles, but he could get a chance to play against the Habs tomorrow.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Metropolitan Notes: Chychrun, Milano, Sullivan, Stillman
After fellow first-year Capital Matt Roy returned to action from a lengthy injury absence on Wednesday, Jakob Chychrun is close to following in his footsteps. Chychrun shed his no-contact designation in practice this morning, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, who adds that he’s questionable to come off injured reserve for tonight’s game against the Penguins.
Prior to sustaining an upper-body injury against the Rangers last week, Chychrun had two goals and two assists while averaging 21:14 through Washington’s first seven games, around the average level of production we’ve come to expect from him after some wild year-to-year swings.
It’s a big year for Chychrun, who’s in the final season of the six-year, $27.6MM extension he signed with the Coyotes way back in 2018 and will be an unrestricted free agent next July. The Caps surrendered Nick Jensen and a third-round pick to acquire him from the Senators, who held onto him for just over one season after sending a trio of draft picks to Arizona to acquire him at the 2023 trade deadline. He put up 41 points (14 G, 27 A) from Ottawa’s blue line last season in 82 games, his highest offensive totals in three years. He’d been skating in a top-pairing role in Washington alongside John Carlson, controlling 56.1% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck.
While Washington may get Chychrun back, they’ll be without winger Sonny Milano after he sustained an upper-body injury versus the Predators on Wednesday, head coach Spencer Carbery told Gulitti. Before the injury, Milano had been a healthy scratch in all but three Caps games this season. Jakub Vrána will re-enter the lineup in his place after sitting in favor of Milano for the last two games, while they’ll likely recall a forward from AHL Hershey to have a healthy extra for their one-off road game in St. Louis on Saturday.
Here’s more on the Metropolitan:
- Almost nothing has gone right this season for the Penguins, who now sit seventh in the Metro with a 5-8-2 record entering tonight’s rivalry matchup with Washington. It’s the second half of a back-to-back for them – they outshot the Hurricanes last night 36-18 but still lost 5-1. “I thought we had a lot of guys who played really hard and didn’t get rewarded for their efforts,” head coach Mike Sullivan said postgame (via Josh Yohe of The Athletic). “But I think there were a few guys that didn’t live up to the expectations. It’s hard. We need everybody to bring it every night to have a chance to win.” Yohe wrote that he’s “never heard him question the effort of individual players in the manner in which he did after this game.“
- Hurricanes depth defenseman Riley Stillman is “getting close” to being cleared to play after sitting out the first month with a lower-body injury, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told the team’s Walt Ruff. He’ll travel with the club on their upcoming three-game road swing. After spending all of last season in the AHL with the Sabres’ affiliate in Rochester, the 26-year-old inked a two-way deal with the Canes in free agency and could stick around as a seventh defenseman.
Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Pinto, Lyon
Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (upper body) remains unavailable for Friday’s home game versus the Red Wings, as head coach Craig Berube told David Alter of The Hockey News.
Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun reported earlier today that Matthews did not participate in this morning’s optional skate. Berube added that Matthews’ recovery is “going in the right direction,” although he also remains doubtful for Saturday’s game against the Canadiens as Toronto closes out a back-to-back. In all likelihood, it appears the captain’s absence will last three games and he’ll return Tuesday against the Senators.
A few more injury-related notes from around the Atlantic:
- Senators center Shane Pinto (undisclosed) could return Saturday in Boston after missing over two weeks, head coach Travis Green told TSN 1200 Ottawa. The club was without No. 1 pivot Tim Stützle in practice today, but that was only due to a black eye he sustained in yesterday’s loss to the Senators and he won’t miss any time. Pinto had a goal and two assists through his first six games of the season before exiting the lineup.
- Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon, who was slated to start tonight’s matchup in Toronto, is instead on the shelf with a minor lower-body injury that he sustained in practice Thursday, head coach Derek Lalonde relayed to FanDuel Sports Network Detroit’s Daniella Bruce. His absence explains the recall of Ville Husso from AHL Grand Rapids earlier today under emergency conditions. He’ll back up while Cam Talbot starts his third straight game. Lalonde is “not overly concerned about [Lyon’s injury] being long term,” Bruce said.
Tyler Benson Signs In Sweden
Former Oilers left-winger Tyler Benson has found a place to play for 2024-25 after going unsigned for the campaign’s first month. MoDo of the Swedish Hockey League announced they’ve signed the 26-year-old to an agreement for the remainder of the season.
Benson last suited up in the NHL in the 2022-23 campaign. A 2016 second-round pick, he never really caught on in Edmonton despite showing some intriguing offensive upside at the AHL level.
In 38 career appearances, Benson only managed a paltry three points (one goal, two assists) and never got any looks higher up in the lineup, averaging just 8:46 per game. But he was a high-end offensive threat for their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield for several years. The Edmonton native turned heads in his first professional season, impressing with 66 points in 68 games in 2018-19 in his first minor-league go-around after completing his major junior career with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants. He continued to hover around a point per game with Bakersfield while getting a few NHL call-ups until 2022-23 when he turned out just five goals and 23 points in 43 appearances.
By the time the 2023 offseason rolled around, he had turned 25, and with only those 38 NHL games under his belt, he was eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency. The Oilers didn’t bring him back, and no other NHL offers came his way. Benson settled for an AHL contract with the Henderson Silver Knights, the Golden Knights’ affiliate. He failed to rediscover his game there, again limited to just five goals with 20 assists for 25 points in 52 games, barely cracking the top 10 in team scoring.
It’s been a sharp fall from grace for Benson over the past couple of seasons, a trend he’ll now look to reverse in Sweden. Regarded as a high-energy playmaker who’s effective on the forecheck when he’s on his game, he joins a MoDo club headlined by ex-Avalanche winger Sampo Ranta. They’re off to a horrid 2-10-1-3 start and appear well on their way to being relegated back to the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan after being promoted in 2023. However, they hope Benson’s acquisition could help get them out of the basement.
Red Wings Recall Ville Husso Under Emergency Conditions
The Red Wings announced they’ve recalled Ville Husso from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions. Summoning the netminder indicates that either Alex Lyon or Cam Talbot is at risk of being unavailable for this evening’s game against the Maple Leafs. However, the team hasn’t disclosed who might be out or why.
Husso, 29, started Detroit’s season opener against the Penguins but allowed four goals on 14 shots and was pulled from the game early in the second period. That poor showing put a quick end to the Wings’ brief three-goalie rotation experiment for this season, as he was placed on waivers the following weekend and was subsequently assigned to Grand Rapids.
The Finnish netminder was on a short leash after a tough stretch of play last season. He managed a .893 SV% in 18 appearances to start 2023-24 before sustaining a lower-body injury that put him on the shelf for over a month. After a brief conditioning assignment with Grand Rapids, he attempted to return. However, he allowed a goal on seven shots against the Oilers on Feb. 13 before being pulled from the game with a reaggravation of his injury less than nine minutes in. Husso got another brief AHL conditioning stint at the end of the season but never suited up again for Detroit due to the ailment.
The Red Wings haven’t gotten the level of play out of Husso they anticipated when they acquired his signing rights from the Blues in 2022 and subsequently inked him to a three-year, $14.25MM extension. In 76 appearances for the Wings, he has a 35-28-9 record but has poor numbers to support it with a .894 SV%, 3.25 GAA, four shutouts, and -21.3 GSAA. They’re in the home stretch of that deal, which carries a $4.75MM cap hit ($3.6MM when he’s in the minors) and expires next summer.
If there’s a silver lining, Husso has been lights out in brief action for Grand Rapids this season. He has a .958 SV%, 1.23 GAA, a shutout, and a 2-0-0 record in three appearances.