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Bokondji Imama

Snapshots: Crosby, Islanders, Coyotes

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Pittsburgh Penguins franchise center Sidney Crosby has moved into sole possession of second place on an impressive list — the number of point-per-game seasons in an NHL career. By reaching 82 points on the year last night, he clinched his 18th straight point-per-game season, moving past Gordie Howe, who had 17. With a point-per-game season next year, he’ll tie Wayne Gretzky for the all-time record with 19.

Those scoring pace statistics are the best way to quantify Crosby’s greatness, given the sheer amount of games he missed due to injury in the early 2010s. While those injuries may limit his place on the main all-time statistics lists, his scoring consistency and ability to adapt his game as the team changes around him should never be overlooked. Crosby’s 83 points in 68 games this season lead the Penguins.

Also from around the league today:

  • The New York Islanders announced that forwards Casey Cizikas and Josh Bailey are both currently sick with non-COVID illnesses, potentially impacting their availability for tomorrow’s game against San Jose. New York still has the inside track on a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference but still can’t afford to lose many games down the stretch. Health will be a key factor to watch for them, as Cizikas and Bailey are both key veteran presences with experience in important games.
  • The Arizona Coyotes assigned forward Bokondji Imama and defenseman Michael Kesselring back to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners today, according to the team. Both have been shuttled up and down frequently since the trade deadline. Expect both players to be recalled back to Arizona tomorrow, as Nick Schmaltz and Josh Brown aren’t expected to be ready for their game against Chicago and remain out with injuries.

 

Coyotes Recall Bokondji Imama

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The Arizona Coyotes have announced Bokondji Imama has been recalled from the Tucson Roadrunners. The recall was made on an emergency basis, and Imama is no stranger to being sent up and down. This is the fourth time he has been called up by the Coyotes since Mar 7 as the Coyotes bring him up on game day to fill out the roster and then send him back to Tucson.

Imama is a big, physical presence in the lineup and has played in three NHL games this season. He is yet to record a point, though he scored a goal for the Coyotes in one of his four NHL games last season. He also has five penalty minutes earned when he was willing to drop the gloves with Ryan Reaves.

The 6-foot-1 and 220 pound left winger has scored five goals and 12 points in 41 AHL games for the Roadrunners this season. The 26-year-old tough guy had a bit of a scoring tough in Junior, once scoring 41 goals for the Saint John Sea Dogs, but he is mostly relied on for his physicality in the pro game.

Minor Moves: Red Wings, Bruins, Kraken, Coyotes, Panthers

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This morning, the Detroit Red Wings assigned Matt Luff and Austin Czarnik to the AHL, as they await a game later this week. The Red Wings don’t play again until Saturday afternoon against the Colorado Avalanche, giving them a chance to save some money in the meantime.

Here are some other minor moves from around the league today:

  • The Boston Bruins have recalled Jakub Lauko under emergency conditions, after sending him down yesterday. Lauko hasn’t played since March 2 and has just 12 appearances this season, but has been bounced back and forth between leagues whenever the team is dealing with injuries. Through those 12 matches, he has five points in his first taste of NHL action.
  • The Seattle Kraken have recalled John Hayden from the AHL, as they hit the road for a game in San Jose tomorrow night. The Kraken are coming off consecutive losses to the Dallas Stars and have now slipped below the Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division playoff race. Hayden, 28, has just two points in five NHL games this year.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have reassigned forward Bokondji Imama to their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. The 26-year-old is an alternate captain for the Coyotes’ farm team, where he has provided hard-working physical play and 12 points of offense at that level. He’s played the last two games for the Coyotes, seeing time in both of the team’s consecutive overtime wins.
  • The Florida Panthers have swapped goalies on their NHL roster, sending down 2022 Calder Cup Champion Alex Lyon in favor of rookie Mack Guzda. The move allows the team’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, to get the more experienced goaltender as they look to clinch a spot in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Arizona Coyotes Recall Bokondji Imama, Michael Kesselring From AHL

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March 14th, 4:01 PM CDT: In response to the news of Kesselring being recalled on an emergency basis, Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports that defenseman Patrik Nemeth left the Coyotes practice this morning with an apparent injury. It is not yet known the nature or extent of the injury that Nemeth sustained this morning, but we do know that he will not be playing in the team’s game tonight.

March 14th, 3:16 PM CDT: The Arizona Coyotes have recalled forward Bokondji Imama and defenseman Michael Kesselring on emergency loans from their AHL affiliate Tuscon Roadrunners. Both players will be made available to dress for tonight’s matchup against the Calgary Flames.

For the second time in as many days, Imama will again be on the roster for the Coyotes. Now playing in his second year in the Coyotes organization, Imama has spent most of his time in Tuscon. In 95 games played over those two seasons, Imama has 10 goals, 14 assists, and a whopping 274 PIM. He has scarcely played in the NHL, having only seen six games in Arizona, averaging just over five minutes of ice time a night.

As the Coyotes continue to assess which players will be around for the future of Arizona hockey, Imama provides the Coyotes with the ability to add quite a bit of grit into their lineup, if they choose to do so.

In his third full season of professional hockey, Kesselring arrived in Arizona during the trade deadline, being one of the pieces sent from the Oilers in the trade for Nick Bjugstad. Drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL draft, Kesselring developed a knack for scoring goals at the AHL level during his time with Edmonton. In 49 games played for their AHL affiliate Bakersfield Condors this season, Kesselring racked up 13 goals, providing some offense from the back end.

Arizona Coyotes Reassign Bokondji Imama, Milos Kelemen

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Monday, Mar. 13, 4:50 p.m.: Arizona reassigned both Imama and Kelemen to the minors today after yesterday’s overtime win against Minnesota. Both forwards played under 10 minutes and neither recorded a point, but Imama did fight Ryan Reaves early in the game.

Imama won’t be immediately eligible to play upon his return to Tucson, however. He received an automatic one-game suspension from the AHL for receiving an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of the third period of his last game. He’ll have to sit out Tucson’s game Friday against the Calgary Wranglers.

Sunday, Mar. 12, 5:31 p.m.: Forwards Bokondji Imama and Milos Kelemen are headed back up from the minors to the Arizona Coyotes, a team tweet Sunday afternoon reveals.

The reinforcements from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners come as an injury could affect the Coyotes’ lineup, per PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan. Winger Christian Fischer left last night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche with a lower-body injury.

Both Imama and Kelemen have seen recent paper transactions. Imama was reassigned to Tucson on March 8 after a one-game emergency recall, recording three hits and a blocked shot in 9:38 of ice time against the St. Louis Blues. Kelemen was sent down on March 4 after his second recall of the season.

Kelemen, an under-the-radar free agent signing out of Czechia last offseason, has put up some decent offensive numbers in Tucson, recording 14 goals and 27 points in 55 games. Another recall could give him the opportunity to register his first NHL point.

Imama, a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights, has 12 points in 41 appearances with Tucson this season.

AHL Shuffle: 03/08/23

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The following players were involved in transactions between NHL clubs and their AHL affiliates.

  • Defenseman Lawrence Pilut was sent by the Buffalo Sabres to the Rochester Americans as an emergency loan. Pilut has split his season between Rochester and Buffalo, appearing in 17 games for the Sabres with a goal and an assist and suiting up for 30 games with Rochester with 19 points in 30 games.
  • Arizona Coyotes forward Bokondji Imama was an emergency send down to the Tucson Roadrunners. Imama, a veteran minor leaguer, has played one game for Arizona this season. He has played in five games over the past two seasons after four seasons playing exclusively in the AHL. He has 12 points in 39 games for Tucson this season.
  • The Washington Capitals have loaned Dylan McIlrath to the Hershey Bears of the AHL as an emergency loan. The former top-10 pick in 2010 has played in 72 NHL games with four teams, including six games for Washington this season, his first NHL action since 2019-20. He has one assist in six games for the Capitals this season.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Arizona Coyotes Recall Bokondji Imama

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A fan favorite in the Coyotes organization is getting another NHL opportunity. The team announced today that left wing Bokondji Imama has been recalled from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners.

This is the first recall of the season for the 26-year-old enforcer, who cleared waivers before the start of the season. A seasoned AHL veteran with the Roadrunners and Ontario Reign, Imama scored his first NHL goal last season while playing in four games with the Coyotes.

In Tucson this season, Imama has matched last season’s offensive totals in far fewer games, recording 12 points in 39 games and his first plus rating in the AHL.

The Montreal-born forward is in his second season with the Coyotes organization after a minor trade in the 2021 offseason sent him to Arizona from the Los Angeles Kings.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Jean-Sebastien Dea, Boko Imama

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The Arizona Coyotes have added another minor league standout, signing Jean-Sebastien Dea to a two-year, two-way contract according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. The scribe reports that the deal will carry an average annual value of $750K in the NHL, though that isn’t actually possible as the league minimum will increase to $775K next season. Dea will earn $300K in the minor leagues.

Not to be forgotten is Bokondji Imama, who has re-signed with the team on a one-year, two-way contract. The 25-year-old had qualified for Group VI unrestricted free agent but will return to the team that gave him his first taste of NHL action this season.

Dea, 28, is an excellent AHL forward, capable of putting up big offensive numbers no matter where he’s playing. He had 26 goals and 52 points in 70 games with the Laval Rocket this year and also has experience with the Rochester Americans, Springfield Thunderbirds, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during his time in the minors. He also has 33 games of NHL experience, though any chance of him becoming an impact player at that level has long passed. He might get a handful of games in with the rebuilding club but is probably joining more for the Tucson Roadrunners than anything else.

The same is likely true for Imama, even if he did make his first NHL appearance this year. The 25-year-old played four games with the Coyotes and scored a goal, an impressive performance given he has never even reached double-digit tallies in the AHL. For Tucson this year he had five goals, 12 points, and 178 penalty minutes, bringing a physical presence to every shift.

14 Players Clear Waivers

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Oct 6: All 14 players have cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Oct 5: Training camp continues to move along and every day brings more cuts. Many of those sent to the minor leagues need to clear waivers, and Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star tweets out today’s full list of 14.

Buddy Robinson (ANA)
Bokondji Imama (ARI)
Cameron Hughes (BOS)
Joona Koppanen (BOS)
Tyler Lewington (BOS)
Ryan MacInnis (BUF)
Sean Malone (BUF)
Ethan Prow (BUF)
Brett Connolly (CHI)
Joseph Gambardella (NJD)
Michael Hutchinson (TOR)
Brian Pinho (WSH)
Michael Sgarbossa (WSH)
Mike Vecchione (WSH)

The big name today is Connolly, who carries a $3.5MM cap hit this year and next. The 29-year-old scored just three goals and six points in 31 games split between the Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks last season, a far cry from the consistent 15-20 goals he had recorded each of the previous four years. A team with extra cap space could certainly take the chance of him rebounding to those numbers, or if he clears, the Blackhawks could send him to the minor leagues. If they did, $1.125MM of his cap hit would be buried.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Bokondji Imama For One Year

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The Arizona Coyotes have inked a recent trade acquisition, as the team announced a one-year deal today for forward Bokondji Imama. The deal is a two-way contract, and Craig Morgan reports that it’s worth $750,000 at the NHL level and $100,000 at the AHL level.

Imama is inking a deal to join this third NHL organization since being drafted. A bruising, physical winger who’s had some scoring success in the past, Imama was originally drafted in the sixth round by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2015. He was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings organization before ever playing a pro game for Tampa, and that’s where he’s spent time before a minor-league swap of players this summer sent him to the desert. Imama’s used his four seasons in the Ontario Reign organization to slowly develop his offensive game while maintaining a physical presence, and he had a career-best 14 points in 31 games this past year.

Imama will inevitably suit up for the Tucson Roadrunners this season, but it’s not inconceivable that Imama will someday suit up for the Coyotes. His physicality could be appealing for a team that will be on the rise in a few years, and Imama could see some more scoring opportunities this year with a depleted Arizona Coyotes depth chart. Increased confidence this season and some scoring development could help ensure that he stays with the organization.

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