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Alex Stalock

Alex Stalock Likely To Retire

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Veteran netminder Alex Stalock is joining the Sharks’ television broadcast crew this upcoming season, the team announced (via Max Miller of The Hockey News). The move likely signals the end of his 15-year professional career.

Stalock, who spent last season in the Ducks organization, was a finalist for the Masterton Trophy in 2023 after working his way back into a regular NHL role with the Blackhawks. The 37-year-old’s career nearly came to an end in 2020 after developing myocarditis after contracting COVID-19, causing him to spend all of the 2020-21 campaign on long-term injured reserve. He returned the following season in a depth/minor-league role for the Oilers and Sharks before serving as Chicago’s full-time backup in 2022-23.

The San Jose 2005 fourth-round pick signed a one-year, $800K deal with Anaheim last summer to provide competition to prospect Lukáš Dostál for the backup role, a job that the young Czech won handily in camp. Anaheim waived Stalock to begin the season and assigned him to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, where he spent most of the campaign aside from a handful of emergency call-ups that didn’t result in any NHL action. He recorded a 3.82 GAA, .888 SV%, and a 2-9-2 record in 15 appearances with San Diego.

Stalock played in parts of 11 NHL seasons with the Sharks, Wild, and Blackhawks from 2010 to 2023. In 179 regular-season games, he held a 70-65-20 record with 11 shutouts, a 2.70 GAA, and a .908 SV%.

He had also had an exemplary career as a minor-league starter, posting a 2.70 GAA, .909 SV%, 12 shutouts, and a 110-87-26 record in 232 AHL games across eight seasons – mostly for the Sharks’ affiliates in San Jose and Worcester.

The St. Paul, Minnesota native also had a spectacular collegiate stint, guiding the University of Minnesota-Duluth to a conference championship in his junior season with a 2.13 GAA, .924 SV%, five shutouts, and a 21-13-8 record in 42 appearances. All of us at PHR wish Stalock the best as he moves up from the ice to the broadcasting booth.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Pacific Notes: McDavid, Desharnais, Pietrangelo, Gibson, Stalock

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Oilers superstar Connor McDavid will miss his second straight contest with a lower-body injury tonight when they take on the Coyotes, per Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 Edmonton. “I won’t go tonight. We will see about tomorrow. We are going day-by-day,” McDavid said.

Per Gregor, the lower-body ailment had been nagging McDavid for some time but was aggravated in last Saturday’s contest against the Flames, in which he played over 20 minutes and registered two assists. The Edmonton captain isn’t worried about it lingering for much longer, however, and his availability for the playoffs currently isn’t in question. His absence didn’t stop the Oilers from rattling off their seventh straight win on Wednesday in a 5-1 dismantling of the Golden Knights. He needs one more assist this season to reach 100 and would be the first player to do so since Wayne Gretzky in 1991.

Sticking with the Oilers, their front office has tabled contract talks with pending UFA defenseman Vincent Desharnais through the postseason, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports. They’d been in discussions for the past while, per Rishaug, as Edmonton looks to keep around their breakout depth shutdown force. He’s late to the party for full-time NHL roles at age 27 but has become a regular this season with a goal, 10 assists, and a +5 rating in 73 contests while averaging 15:31 per game. He hasn’t been tasked with too much responsibility but has controlled possession well, logging a 54.7 xGF% at even strength. He’s nearing completion of a two-year, two-way contract and is almost certainly looking at a one-way deal next season, regardless of whether he stays in Edmonton.

Elsewhere in the Pacific:

  • Golden Knights star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo hasn’t resumed skating as he deals with a lengthy illness and will likely be out for at least two more games, head coach Bruce Cassidy said (via The Athletic’s Jesse Granger). He’s yet to be cleared to practice by the team’s medical staff. Pietrangelo missed six games with an illness in late March and returned to the lineup against the Wild on the 30th but exited again after two appearances. He hasn’t been with the team in over a week, last skating in an April 2 contest against the Canucks. Vegas will continue to roll with Nicolas Hague playing his offside on their top pairing, with the newly-extended Noah Hanifin in his absence.
  • The Ducks have reassigned netminder Alex Stalock to AHL San Diego. Starter John Gibson is set to return from an upper-body injury tonight against the Flames. The latter is expected to make his first start since March 30 against the Oilers, head coach Greg Cronin said. Gibson backed up Lukáš Dostál in two contests before sustaining the injury outside of game action, forcing Stalock’s recall last week. The 36-year-old farmhand didn’t play, with Dostál making five straight starts. Stalock’s been recalled on multiple instances this season but hasn’t seen any NHL ice, with either Dostál or Gibson leading the way in the other’s absence. He’s struggled heavily in the minors this season, posting a .889 SV% in 13 games. A pending UFA, Stalock could be heading toward retirement this summer.

Ducks Recall Alex Stalock On An Emergency Basis

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With John Gibson unavailable to dress tonight against Seattle, the Ducks needed a backup goaltender.  In a move they have made several times, the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve brought up Alex Stalock on an emergency basis.  The emergency designation means he won’t count against their post-deadline recalls.

This is the sixth recall of the season for the 36-year-old who has been returned to the minors within 48 hours of the promotions each time; it wouldn’t be shocking if that trend continued as long as Gibson is clear to return on Sunday versus St. Louis.  With his NHL time being short-lived this season, Stalock has yet to see regular season action with Anaheim so far.

Instead, Stalock has served as the veteran third-string option with AHL San Diego this season, playing in just 13 games behind prospects Tomas Suchanek and Calle Clang.  With his playing time being limited, it’s no surprise that he has struggled, posting a 3.81 GAA and a .889 SV% in 13 appearances.  Those numbers certainly won’t help his cause when he hits the open market as an unrestricted free agent in July.

Pacific Notes: Pietrangelo, Hoffman, Emberson, Gibson, Stalock, Evans

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Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo indeed did not travel with the team to kick off their road trip and is out tonight against the Blues due to illness, Lou Korac of NHL.com relays. The 34-year-old has already missed three games with the illness, last factoring into the lineup on March 17 against the Devils. It’s his second multi-game absence of the campaign – he missed five games with an upper-body injury back in October. The seven-year, $61.6MM deal he signed in free agency in 2020 continues to age relatively well as it crosses the halfway point. He’s again logging number-one minutes, averaging 23:38 per game. He’s not the highest-producing Golden Knights defender – Noah Hanifin and Shea Theodore have him beaten in that regard – but he’s still managed 32 points in 62 games this year. The two-time Stanley Cup champion will be replaced by Nicolas Hague on the team’s top pairing alongside Hanifin in what is perhaps Vegas’ biggest game of the season tonight in St. Louis against their biggest threat for a playoff spot.

Other updates from the Pacific Division:

  • Sharks winger Mike Hoffman has been listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury since March 9 against Ottawa, which the winger confirmed Sunday to Colby Guy of San Jose Hockey Now was the first concussion of his career. Hoffman has been a full participant in practice in recent days but hasn’t yet been cleared for game action. The former top-six fixture has continued to regress after potting six straight 20-goal seasons between 2015 and 2020, posting 10-12–22 in 61 games with the Sharks this year in mainly third-line minutes. The 34-year-old is in the final season of a three-year, $13.5MM deal signed with the Canadiens in 2021 and found his way to San Jose in last offseason’s Erik Karlsson three-way swap with the Penguins.
  • Sticking in the Bay Area, promising shutdown prospect Ty Emberson’s season is likely over due to a lower-body injury, head coach David Quinn said Monday (via Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now). The 23-year-old has missed over 20 games already this season with different injuries and hasn’t played since Feb. 29 against the Ducks. It’s a tough end to an otherwise promising rookie campaign, as Emberson logged 10 points in 30 games and will finish the season with a team-high -4 rating among skaters with at least 10 games played. The 2018 third-round pick of the Coyotes is on his third NHL organization after being dealt to the Rangers in July 2022 and being claimed off waivers by the Sharks to begin the 2023-24 season.
  • The Ducks have starter John Gibson back at practice today after he missed Sunday’s loss to the Lightning for personal reasons, Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune reports. As such, the team has returned veteran Alex Stalock to AHL San Diego after he backed up Lukáš Dostál last night. Gibson’s numbers have taken a tumble lately after putting together a solid season prior to the All-Star break, now down to a .891 SV% and 3.40 GAA on the season with a 13-24-2 record. He’s also at risk of failing to record a shutout in a season for the first time in his 11-year career. He hasn’t posted a SV% above .900 in a single outing in over a month.
  • The Kraken lost big-time last night, 5-1 to the Canadiens, but that wasn’t the only downside of the game. Promising rookie blue-liner Ryker Evans sustained a lower-body injury in the first period and is out on a day-to-day basis, head coach Dave Hakstol told Scott Malone of ROOT Sports NW. The 22-year-old has formed one of the better depth pairings in the league this year when used with veteran Brian Dumoulin, as they’ve controlled 61.4% of expected goals through 142 minutes of action, according to MoneyPuck. That’s 10th in the league among pairings with at least 100 minutes together this season. Through 25 contests, Evans has eight points while logging 18:30 per game and has remained on the roster since being called up on deadline day.

Snapshots: Lindholm, Stalock, Crotty, Wilsby, NCAA Bracket

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Canucks forward Elias Lindholm has struggled as of late and snapped a 15-game goalless streak last night against his former team in Calgary.  It appears there’s a reason for those struggles as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported last night (video link) that the veteran is set to meet with a specialist in the coming days to determine the extent of the undisclosed injury that he is currently playing through.  The 29-year-old has just nine points in 22 games since being acquired at the end of January and has been dropped to the third line in recent games, not the type of impact they were looking for from their biggest trade acquisition of the season.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Ducks announced that they recalled goaltender Alex Stalock from AHL San Diego. The 36-year-old had been brought up four times this season but has yet to see game action with Anaheim, instead serving in a short-term backup role.  He’ll be reprising that role against Tampa Bay with John Gibson out for personal reasons.  Stalock has played in a dozen games for the Gulls this season while playing on a one-year, one-way deal worth $800K, posting a 3.72 GAA with a .894 SV%.  He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
  • The Coyotes announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Cameron Crotty from AHL Tucson on an emergency basis. The 24-year-old is in his fourth professional season and this will be his first recall and first game as he took the place of Josh Brown who was out due to an illness.  Crotty has three goals and nine assists in 45 games with the Roadrunners this season.
  • Predators prospect Adam Wilsby has been linked to SHL Farjestad next season, notes Varlands Folkblad’s Johan Ekberg. The 23-year-old blueliner was a fourth-round pick back in 2020 and has spent his three-year entry-level deal playing with AHL Milwaukee where he has six goals and eight assists through 49 games so far.  A pending restricted free agent, it might make more sense for Wilsby to return home over continuing to play in the minors as he’s likely behind several prospects on Nashville’s organizational depth chart.
  • The NCAA revealed the official bracket for the tournament leading to the Frozen Four and the DI Men’s Ice Hockey Championship with Boston College serving as the top seed. Games get underway on Thursday and as teams are eliminated, we’ll start to see some of the more notable free agents start to sign while others will forego the rest of their college eligibility to turn pro.

Pacific Notes: Soucy, Pospisil, Zary, Stalock

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Harman Dayal of The Athletic is reporting that the Vancouver Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy will return to the lineup tonight as the team takes on the Los Angeles Kings. Soucy has been out of the lineup for a month and a half with a broken hand suffered on January 20th against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It is the second time this season that Soucy has broken a bone with the first being a broken leg that kept him out of the lineup for two months. On the year, injuries have limited Soucy to just 21 games with Vancouver, scoring two goals and six points overall.

Signed to a three-year, $9.75MM contract with the Canucks this past summer, Soucy still has plenty of time to recover and become an important factor of Vancouver’s defensive core. With Soucy now back in the mix, the Canucks should be able to field one of the league’s deepest defensive units come playoff time, as long as Tyler Myers can return in due time from his undisclosed injury.

Other Pacific notes:

  • Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil is set to have a hearing for boarding Seattle Kraken’s Vince Dunn yesterday evening, according to the Department of Player Safety. During the play in question, Dunn received the puck below the goal line in Seattle’s defensive zone, with his back completely turned to the rest of the ice. Pospisil delivered a body check to Dunn while he was in a vulnerable spot, and was issued a five-minute major penalty on the play.
  • Sticking in Calgary, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation is reporting that the Flames have placed forward Connor Zary on the team’s injured reserve, retroactively to the team’s game on Saturday. This allowed Calgary to open up a roster this afternoon to claim defenseman Joel Hanley off of waivers from the Dallas Stars.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have reassigned goaltender Alex Stalock to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, per a team announcement. Even with this transaction marking the fourth time that Stalock has been brought up to the NHL level this year, he has yet to suit up in a game for Anaheim. At the AHL level, Stalock has appeared in 11 contests for the Gulls, earning a 1-9-1 record with a .892 SV%.

Ducks Recall Alex Stalock

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The Ducks made a roster move just minutes before their game tonight against Vancouver was set to start, announcing that they’ve recalled goaltender Alex Stalock from AHL San Diego.  His promotion was needed with John Gibson being scratched due to illness.

The 36-year-old is in his first season with Anaheim after signing a one-year, $800K one-way contract with them back in August.  While it’s his fourth recall of the year, Stalock has yet to play for the Ducks.

Instead, he has spent the majority of the year with the Gulls but has been limited to just 11 appearances at that level where he has a 3.84 GAA along with a .892 SV%.  But with 179 career NHL games under his belt where he has a 2.70 GAA and a .908 SV%, it’s possible that a team or two might be interested in adding Stalock to stash in the minors as injury depth for the stretch run and it’s doubtful the asking price would be too high for his services.

Anaheim Ducks Recall Alex Stalock, Reassign Jackson LaCombe

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Before the puck dropped in tonight’s matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings, the Ducks announced they had called up goaltender Alex Stalock, and reassigned defenseman Jackson LaCome to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. As mentioned in previous reporting, it was discovered that netminder John Gibson would be out of tonight’s game due to an illness, and the Ducks would be reintroducing forward Troy Terry back into the lineup.

As the third-string goaltender in the organization, this will mark Stalock’s third call-up of the season, with the other two coming on November 1st and December 20th, respectively. Failing to play a game in either of those two transactions, Stalock has only played for the Gulls this season, carrying a 1-7-1 record through nine games, and also possessing a .894 SV%.

If Anaheim continues to maintain relatively good health between the pipes, Stalock could very well only play in the AHL this season for a struggling San Diego team. It would mark the first time Stalock has only suited up in the AHL for any given year since the 2011-12 season. Employed as a backup for the Chicago Blackhawks last year, Stalock has a career record of 70-65-20, with a .908 SV% primarily serving as a backup with the Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, and San Jose Sharks.

In LaCombe, it will mark his first demotion to the minor leagues over his young career, making his NHL debut last season after wrapping up his career with the University of Minnesota. LaCombe initially made his way to the Ducks organization after being selected by the team with the 39th overall selection of the 2019 NHL Draft.

It would be an understatement to say that LaCombe has struggled in his first full year in the NHL, only tallying four assists through 35 games this season. Playing in almost 20 minutes each night, LaCombe has managed a -22 rating, the worst on Anaheim’s roster. Furthermore, even in the more advanced metrics, LaCombe has produced a CorsiFor% of 38%, and an on-ice save percentage in all situations of 88.7%, which are simply not going to cut it at the NHL level.

Roster Updates: Kraken, Larsson, Stalock

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Currently sitting in 11th place in the Western Conference and three points back of the final Wild Card spot with three games less in hand, the Seattle Kraken are experiencing somewhat of a playoff hangover from their run to Game Seven of the Conference Semifinals last Spring. Nevertheless, even with a healthy amount of rental assets currently on the roster, the Kraken have no desire to sell at this year’s trade deadline, according to Elliotte Friedman.

Evidenced primarily from their recent acquisition of Tomas Tatar from the Colorado Avalanche, Seattle is still hoping to turn their season around in an attempt to compete for a playoff spot. However, with an ample amount of time before the trade deadline, Kraken could certainly look to move out expiring assets such as Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, and Alexander Wennberg.

Whatever the case may be, Seattle will need to become much more consistent in either direction to confirm a trade deadline strategy in the next few months. In a top-heavy Western Conference, Seattle still has plenty of hope to make the playoffs this season.

Other notes:

  • After spending a little over a week on the active roster, the Ottawa Senators have sent down defenseman Jacob Larsson to their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, per a team announcement. Unfortunately for Larsson, he was a healthy scratch for every game over that stretch, returning to a Belleville team where he has registered two goals and four points in 18 games.
  • Recalled only yesterday, the Anaheim Ducks have now returned goaltender Alex Stalock to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Given the team lines up against the Calgary Flames this evening, it likely spells the return of top goaltender, John Gibson, who was placed on the Non-Roster list only three days ago.

Anaheim Ducks Recall Alex Stalock, Send Calle Clang To AHL

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The Anaheim Ducks have swapped backup goalies, recalling Alex Stalock on an emergency loan and sending Calle Clang to the minor leagues. Clang recently received the first NHL call-up of his career, getting his first view of the NHL when he backed up Lukas Dostal in the team’s Monday win over the New Jersey Devils.

Clang has already appeared in 12 AHL games this season, setting a 2-7-2 record and .882 save percentage. He made his debut in the league following the conclusion of the SHL’s 2022-23 season, appearing in five games with the San Diego Gulls before the end of the year. And while Clang is still an AHL rookie, he does have top-league experience, combining for 43 games in the SHL between the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons and managing a combined 22-15-0 record and .906 save percentage.

The Ducks will turn from a rookie of North American pros to a 14-year veteran of the leagues in Alex Stalock, who made his AHL debut with the 2009-10 Worcester Sharks. The Ducks are slated to become the fourth NHL team that Stalock has played for, with the San Diego Gulls becoming his sixth AHL team. The 36-year-old goaltender has appeared in 223 AHL games across his career, totaling a 109-86-14 record and .910 save percentage. He has also managed a 70-65-20 record and a .908 save percentage in 179 career NHL games. 63 of these games have come in the Pacific Division, with Stalock spending six seasons with the San Jose Sharks.

Stalock will back-up Dostal as long as starter John Gibson remains on the non-roster list for the birth of his child.

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