Jankowski has spent the entirety of the season on the NHL lineup after splitting the last two seasons between the NHL and AHL. He’s totaled nine points, 15 penalty minutes, and an even plus-minus through 41 games while serving in a bottom-six role for the Predators. The performance is a slight downtick from the 15 points, eight PIMs, and plus-11 that Jankowski managed in 32 games last year. He also scored 47 points in 40 AHL games last year, good for third on the Milwaukee Admirals in scoring.

Jankowski has filled the role of depth forward throughout his 11-year professional career. He was originally drafted 21st overall in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames. He went on to play a productive four years at Providence College before turning pro at the end of the 2015-16 season and playing his rookie AHL season in 2016-17. Jankowski was instantly effective, netting 62 points in his first 72 games in the AHL. That scoring wasn’t enough to make the full-time jump to the NHL, but Jankowski made sure to earn the call-up wiht eight points in six AHL games of 2017-18. With that, Calgary awarded him his first full season at the top flight. Jankowski seemed to be taking early advantage, netting 17 goals and 25 points in 72 games as an NHL rookie. He improved on the performance with 14 goals and 32 points in 79 games in his second year, but quickly fell off a cliff after that.

Jankowski spent one more season with Calgary after his 32-point campaign – and only managed seven points in 56 games. He spent the next three seasons between stops in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Nashville – all while averaging just nine points each season at the NHL level. He curbed the slow performances with 27 points in 32 AHL games in 2021-22 – but nonetheless fell firm into the rut of menial NHL scoring and near point-per-game minor scoring.

Jankowski will bring modest depth and a six-foot-four, 212-pound frame to the bottom of Carolina’s lineup. He should be in for routine minutes – likely bumping Tyson Jost back out of the lineup and filling the hole left by Jack Drury’s departure. But Jankowski will need to stay on his toes to hang onto a lineup role. Carolina is currently tied for fourth-place in an Atlantic Division that got some major upgrades at the deadline. They’ll need all hands of deck as they start to fight for playoff seeding, and aim for an extended postesason.

Jankowski is signed through the end of the 2025-26 season with a cheap $800K cap hit.

The 24-year-old Wilsby’s first NHL campaign ends after 23 games. Drafted 101st overall in 2020 out of Swedish second-tier club Södertälje SK, he’s played stateside since 2022 and was working his way up the organizational ladder. His point totals in the minors never jumped off the page, posting 10-34–44 in 146 career appearances with AHL Milwaukee to date, but he’s a well-rounded talent with good passing ability who hasn’t posted a negative rating at any level since his draft year in the HockeyAllsvenskan.

Wilsby’s entry-level contract expired last summer, so he signed a two-way deal to cover the 2024-25 campaign nearly three weeks into restricted free agency. He didn’t make the team out of camp, but he continued to chug along the minors and got his first look in the NHL lineup in late November after a lower-body injury sidelined Jeremy Lauzon, who’s also now out for the rest of the year.

He’s stuck around on the roster since his debut, not at all looking out of place. It might be easy to overlook his one goal and four assists on the year, but he’s logged significant even-strength minutes for the Preds and has even seen some shorthanded action. The 6’1″ lefty averaged 18:06 per game with a plus-three rating – second on the team behind Nick Blankenburg’s plus-nine – and recorded 17 blocks and 18 hits. He may not be overly physical, but his +4.5 expected rating at even strength leads Nashville defenders and his 52.8% Corsi share at even strength is quite respectable as well. That well-rounded initial showing earned him some security – albeit a league-minimum salary with a two-way structure the first year – for the next two seasons.

While Nashville will be disappointed not to see how he performs down the stretch, especially since he’d seen more than 20 minutes of deployment in recent outings, he’s done enough to put himself under serious consideration for a roster spot coming out of camp next season. They’ll have some turnover on the back end with waiver claim Andreas Englund and recent call-up Jake Livingstone slated for unrestricted free agency, and it stands to reason they’ll look to move the aging Luke Schenn as he enters the final year of his deal. There will be an opportunity for Wilsby to play important minutes for the retooling Preds and prove he can be a long-term second or third-pairing option on the left side.

Meanwhile, L’Heureux is ticketed for his second multi-game absence since the Preds recalled him from Milwaukee in the early weeks of the season. He missed three games in January while serving a suspension for slew-footing Wild captain Jared Spurgeon. The 21-year-old has done well in limited minutes, scoring 4-9–13 in 45 appearances while averaging 11:39 per game. The hard-nosed 2021 first-rounder leads Nashville forwards with 143 hits, although that physical play hasn’t yet translated into above-average defensive impacts. He sustained his injury on Feb. 7 against the Blackhawks and missed the Preds’ final pre-break contest as a result.

Jankowski, 30, returns after missing nine games with an upper-body issue. The 2012 first-rounder has topped out as a depth option at best, but he was actually one of the Preds’ more effective per-game producers last season with 15 points in 32 games amid AHL call-ups. The same can’t be said for Jankowski this season, who’s scored at less than half the rate with 3-5–8 in 37 appearances. He’s carried increased value defensively, though. He’s seen more deployment at center, winning half of his 210 draws, and grades out as one of Nashville’s best possession players with a 55.5 CF% and +6.8 expected rating. Opponents only score 2.2 goals per 60 minutes with Jankowski on the ice at even strength, one of the lowest numbers on the team.

It’s a bit surprising that the Preds wound up waiting this long to put Jankowski on IR.  The 30-year-old has been out for the last three weeks with an upper-body injury that carries a week-to-week designation.  Jankowski has played in 37 games this season, notching three goals and five assists while logging a little under 13 minutes a night.  Having been out this long, he’ll be eligible to be activated at any point when he’s cleared to return.

As for Wiesblatt, this is his second recall of the season.  He got into two games on his first one back in January where he had four hits in a little over ten minutes a night of action.  This one will be shorter-lived, however, as he’ll almost certainly be sent back following the game to keep playing with the Admirals.  On the farm, the 22-year-old has 11 goals and 12 assists in 41 games, already making it the most productive of his three professional seasons.

Outside defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, the Predators have no injuries on their blue line, making it unlikely for Gravel to play. However, he remains a serviceable veteran option as the team’s seventh defenseman for the three games leading up to the scheduled break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.

Gravel has skated in three games for Nashville in Lauzon’s absence, tallying one assist while averaging 18:19 of ice time per game. Given that he hasn’t played in an NHL contest since the 2022-23 season it’s a little surprising the Predators’ decided to give Gravel top-four minutes and a spot on the team’s second penalty-kill unit.

He wasn’t the only infrequent player to join the team for practice this morning. Nashville radio analyst Nick Kieser reported earlier that forward Mark Jankowski also joined the team.

The long-time bottom-six forward has missed six straight games for the Predators due to an upper-body injury, but he should return for a game or two before the 4 Nations Face-Off. He’s scored three goals and eight points in 37 games for Nashville this year, far below his seven-goal, 15-point performance in 32 games last season.

He hasn’t landed on injured reserve, largely because Nashville is operating with an open roster spot. But he could in the coming days to make room for the activation of winger Cole Smith, who Brunette said has been upgraded to day-to-day after missing nearly a month with a lower-body injury.

It’s a tough loss for Nashville, where the 30-year-old Jankowski has been one of the team’s best defensive forwards in 2024-25. His 55.5% shot attempt share at even strength is fourth on the team among qualified forwards, as is his 2.2 GA/60.

A frequent penalty killer, Jankowski has averaged 12:44 per game – his most in three years – and has won half of his 210 draws. His offensive production of eight points in 37 games is down from last year’s 15 in 32, but the 2012 first-round pick of the Flames has still done well to re-establish himself as an NHL regular after a few years of bouncing between the big leagues and the AHL.

That performance last year after a mid-season call-up from AHL Milwaukee earned Jankowski a two-year, $1.6MM extension, so he’s got another year left under contract with Nashville past this season. He’s now on his fourth NHL organization after stops with Calgary, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

The Preds will likely give Kieffer Bellows his first NHL game since April 2023 when they face the Sharks tomorrow. He’s the only extra forward on the roster after being recalled on Jan. 11.

The injury was likely suffered in the team’s most recent game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 28th or during practice on one of the following days. Per the announcement from Nashville, Jankowski is considered day-to-day meaning his availability for Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche may be questionable.

Before tonight’s injury designation, Jankowski had suited up in all nine of the Predators’ games to start the season. He’s only tallied one assist while primarily playing left wing on the team’s third line averaging 12:43 of ice time per game. Juuso Pärssinen drew in for the injured Jankowski tonight marking his second game of the season and could draw in again on Saturday.

Other notes from earlier:

• The Washington Capitals are deploying a shell of their potential blue line with defensemen Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy nursing separate injuries. Neither blue liner drew into tonight’s contest against the Montreal Canadiens but all signs indicate this reality may not last much longer. Bailey Johnson of the Washington Post reported earlier that both defensemen were skating in non-contact jerseys earlier today hinting that their return may be close. Roy, the Capitals impact free agent signing from the offseason, has only suited up in one game in Washington this season before suffering a lower-body injury.
• Washington did get one reinforcement back on the blue line with Alexander Alexeyev returning to the team from personal leave (X Link). Alexeyev and his wife were celebrating the birth of their first child and now the St. Petersburg, Russia native will play his first game of the 2024-25 NHL season. He skated in 39 games for the Capitals last season registering one goal and three points while averaging 13:42 of ice time per game.

Fabbro and Jankowski will be UFAs at the end of their respective deals. Nashville was set for a potential arbitration hearing with Fabbro if he did not re-sign before the summer, while Jankowski was a pending UFA upon completion of the one-year, $775K extension he signed nearly a year ago.

The Predators drafted Fabbro, 25, with the 17th overall pick in 2016. He turned pro at the end of the 2018-19 campaign and has since appeared in 304 games for the Preds, recording 71 points and a +11 rating while averaging 18:10 per game. He’s slipped to a more limited role this year, averaging only 16:34, but he’s been effective in that sheltered even-strength role with 12 points, a +11 rating, and career-best possession numbers in 51 games.

Oddly enough, that career-best-showing hasn’t earned him the full trust of head coach Andrew Brunette. Fabbro was a healthy scratch for Nashville’s season opener and has been on 12 other occasions this season as part of a rotation with Tyson Barrie, Alexandre Carrier, Jeremy Lauzon, and Luke Schenn for depth minutes.

Jankowski, 29, has spent the last two seasons in the Predators organization. The 2012 first-round pick stayed mostly in the NHL in 2022-23, recording seven goals and 12 points in 50 games, but has spent most of this year on assignment to AHL Milwaukee. He’s been a top performer there, notching 47 points and a +29 rating in 40 games, which has earned him some more NHL ice as of late. Aside from a few paper transactions, he’s stayed on the roster since Feb. 12 and has two goals and an assist in 14 NHL contests.

A one-way deal indicates the Predators envision Jankowski on next season’s opening night roster, but if he doesn’t make the cut, he’d have to clear waivers. The Hamilton, Ontario, native has also spent time with the Flames, Penguins and Sabres over his eight-year, 336-game NHL career.

By inking Grigals to an NHL contract, the Predators add a potential Black Ace for the postseason and give themselves the option to retain his exclusive signing rights with a qualifying offer this summer. The 25-year-old Latvian has spent most of the season with their ECHL affiliate, the Atlanta Gladiators, where he has a 3.68 GAA, .898 SV%, 7-15-0 record, and one shutout in 26 games. He fared poorly in his lone AHL showing with Milwaukee on New Year’s Eve, posting a .846 SV% in a 4-3 loss to the Rockford IceHogs. He’s in his first professional season after four seasons with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and a graduate transfer season with UMass-Lowell last year.

More from the Central Division:

• With the Blackhawks locking up most of their notable pending UFAs to extensions already, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times posits that their cap space might be their best asset before the March 8th trade deadline. Doing so could allow them to act as a third-party retainer to pick up an extra draft pick while they could also take on a bad contract as they did last season with Nikita Zaitsev to also add draft capital.  However, Pope notes that Chicago won’t be willing to take on a contract that runs past next season, similar to Zaitsev last season with his contract set to expire this summer.
• Avalanche winger Gabriel Landeskog has become a regular participant in team skates as he works his way back from a knee cartilage transplant procedure back in January, The Athletic’s Chris Johnston noted on the latest TSN Insider Trading segment. The 31-year-old last played in June 2022 but a return at some point in the playoffs this season hasn’t been ruled out yet.  If the team feels that there’s a good chance that he’ll be able to suit up in the postseason, that could affect their trade deadline approach.
• A day after being sent down, Mark Jankowski is back up with the Predators, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 29-year-old is one of the top scorers in the minors this season, notching 47 points in 40 games with Milwaukee while also chipping in with a pair of goals in seven games with Nashville while averaging a little less than 12 minutes a night of playing time.

The 30-year-old Pouliot was the eighth overall pick in the 2012 NHL entry draft and has never been able to establish himself as a full-time NHLer. At this point in his career, he continues to be a productive AHL defenseman and a good depth option for NHL teams. Pouliot has eight goals and 23 assists in 44 AHL games this season.

In other afternoon notes:

• The Nashville Predators have reassigned Mark Jankowski to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. Jankowski had a goal in the Predators’ 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings last night and has two goals in seven NHL games this season. The 29-year-old was also a first-round pick in the 2012 NHL entry draft and is having a terrific AHL season with 15 goals and 32 assists in 40 games. Jankowski will rejoin a Milwaukee team that has won 18 games in a row.
• Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reported that Buffalo Sabres defenseman Erik Johnson missed practice this morning due to an illness. Johnson joined the likes of Victor Olofsson and Eric Comrie who have also been dealing with an illness. Johnson will not play tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets and will likely be replaced on the third pairing by Ryan Johnson. The Sabres will be without several regular defensemen as Owen Power also remains sidelined with a hand injury. Johnson has had his name in trade rumors as of late and will likely continue to hear that as the trade deadline nears.

Tokarski backed up Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s today in a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks and was nearly summoned to play as Luukkonen struggled stopping just 11 of 15 shots in the loss. Tokarski hasn’t played in an NHL game since February 18th, 2023, and is 7-7-2 with a .887 save percentage in 17 AHL games this season.

In other evening notes:

• A day after sending forward Mark Jankowski to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL, the Nashville Predators have recalled the 29-year-old. Jankowski has a goal in five games this season in the NHL but is currently third in AHL scoring with 15 goals and 32 assists in 40 games. He was named the AHL’s Player of the Month for January and will now re-join the Predators as they continue their five-game road trip tomorrow night in Vegas when they take on the Golden Knights.
• The San Jose Sharks healthy scratched forward Alexander Barabanov today in their 4-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. The 29-year-old has seen his name in trade rumors over the last few months despite struggling through a poor offensive season with just three goals and six assists in 34 games. Barabanov has put together a couple of solid offensive seasons in San Jose but hasn’t had the same quality of teammates this year which has led to poor offensive results. Barabanov is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, but it doesn’t appear he was held out of action for a pending trade. Based on reports, it seems as though Barabanov was scratched for his defensive play in a previous game.

After his recall at the end of last season, Reichel produced quite effectively for a Blackhawks team that had no hopes of contending. In 23 games, Reichel would score seven goals and 15 points at the professional level, inspiring hope that he could be a top-line player as early as this season.

Unfortunately, those hopes quickly vanished, as Reichel has only been able to put up three goals and 10 points through 50 games, producing a team-worst -28 rating. The Blackhawks will be hoping that Reichel can take the time he needs in the AHL to regain his confidence to become a long-term fixture in Chicago’s top-six.

Other transaction notes:

• The Nashville Predators have sent down forward Mark Jankowski to their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, according to a team announcement. Now in his second season with the Predators organization, Jankowski was originally recalled on February 12th, going scoreless in the three games he suited up for. In Milwaukee, Jankowski has been remarkable this year, scoring 15 goals and 47 points over 40 games.
• Moving over to the Atlantic Division, the Buffalo Sabres announced they have sent down defenseman Kale Clague to their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. Having yet to play for the Sabres up to this point in the season, Clague has been quite productive for the Americans, scoring three goals and 23 points through 41 contests.
• With multiple injuries coming to their forward core this season, Jonas Rondbjerg has been an oft-used organizational depth piece for the Vegas Golden Knights to replace lost minutes. Once again, the team has sent him back down to their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, per a team announcement. The native of Denmark has skated in 18 games for the Golden Knights this season, putting up one goal and three points in the process.

The three moves give the Predators a full 23-player roster with two extra forwards in case of injuries. They’re also another puzzling step in the development of the 22-year-old Tomasino who, despite producing at a 40-point pace, has been a healthy scratch in three of the last seven games.

Nashville’s 2019 first-round pick made the team out of camp in 2021 and churned out strong rookie numbers with 11 goals and 32 points in 76 games, but he split his sophomore season evenly between the NHL and AHL. This year’s been more consistent and more fruitful on the scoresheet for Tomasino, although he still hasn’t earned the full trust of the Predators’ coaching staff despite an expected +3.4 rating that’s tied for fourth on the team.

Tomasino is still waiver-exempt, but that won’t last for long. The pending RFA only has nine NHL games remaining before he loses that status, per CapFriendly.

For now, Tomasino will look to continue tearing it up in Milwaukee, where he had 12 goals and 32 points in 38 games last season. He notched over a point per game in his first pro campaign with AHL Chicago during the shortened 2020-21 season.

Today’s news does mean that Afanasyev, who was picked one round after Tomasino in 2019, should get his first NHL look of the season. The 23-year-old leads Milwaukee in goals with 21 and has added another 21 assists for 42 points in 42 games, ranking sixth in the AHL. In a 17-game stint with the Predators last year, the first of his career, he posted one goal and a -7 rating. Like Tomasino, he is in the final year of his entry-level contract, and he’ll require waivers to head to Milwaukee starting next season.

The veteran Jankowski has a pair of NHL showings this year, both coming in early December. The 6-foot-4 29-year-old has been the only better offensive player in Milwaukee than Afanasyev, posting 15 goals and 47 points through 40 games. It’s his second consecutive season tallying over a point per game for the Admirals. A first-round pick of the Flames in 2012, Jankowski will battle for fourth-line ice time with veterans Michael McCarron and Kiefer Sherwood. He’ll be a UFA this summer after completing a one-year, one-way $775K extension.

Nashville’s head coach, Andrew Brunette, spoke highly of Foudy in light of the news, saying, “He brings speed and I’d like to see him go [to the AHL] and get a little more finish and get a little stronger. If he clears, I’m really excited to have him in the organization.”

Nashville claimed Foudy off of waivers from the Columbus Blue Jackets in late October. The 23-year-old centerman has recorded three assists and a -2 in 13 games between Nashville and Columbus this year, after recording 14 points in 62 games as a rookie last season. Columbus drafted Foudy in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft and awarded him with his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season. He’s totaled 22 points in 102 career NHL games.

Jankowski has spent most of his season with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, ranking second on the team in scoring with 14 points in 17 games. He’s in his second year in Nashville, playing in 50 games and scoring 12 points with the Predators last year. It was only the fourth time that Jankowski has played in 50 or more games in one season, scoring 25 points in 72 games in 2017-18, 32 points in 79 games in 2018-19, and seven points in 56 games in 2019-20. The 29-year-old forward was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames and has totaled 50 goals and 93 points in 324 career NHL games.

The 29-year-old 2012 first-round pick has spent the entirety of this season so far with the Admirals, and is currently second on the team in points with 14 in 17 games. The Predators played the New York Rangers last night and today play the Buffalo Sabres.

The recall of Jankowski allows the Predators to have an extra forward on their roster for depth purposes, just in case coach Andrew Brunette elects to shuffle his lineup for tonight’s game. With Jankowski recalled, the team now has the flexibility to give a forward the night off if they so choose.

A versatile six-foot-four center, Jankowski can also play along the wings and has a decent track record of secondary offensive production. Not only is he a former AHL All-Star, Jankowski also has a career-high of 17 goals in the NHL and has over 322 games of NHL experience.

If Jankowski ends up playing, he’d likely be slotted onto Nashville’s fourth line, either in the place of Michael McCarron at the 4C spot or in place of Dante Fabbro, who has been dressed as a seventh defenseman.

10/04/23: Teams continue to trim their rosters ahead of the regular season, which starts in just six days. That means multiple players will hit the waiver wire daily until opening night rosters are due, and today is no different. Per TSN’s Chris Johnston, 12 players were waived today at 1 p.m. CT, 11 of whom have NHL experience. As a reminder, a waiver placement is a prerequisite for qualified players for assignment to the AHL but not necessarily an indication that a demotion to the minors will immediately happen. NHL teams can send a player down to the minors within 30 days or 10 games played of the date the player originally cleared waivers. After that time, their waiver clock will reset, and they will need to clear again.

Anaheim Ducks

D Robert Hägg
D Colton White

Boston Bruins

F Jayson Megna

Buffalo Sabres

F Brett Murray

Minnesota Wild

F Jujhar Khaira
F Vinni Lettieri
D Dakota Mermis
F Nic Petan

New Jersey Devils

D Callan Foote

Nashville Predators

F Mark Jankowski

San Jose Sharks

D Leon Gawanke

Winnipeg Jets

F Jeffrey Viel