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Robert Hagg

Golden Knights Recall Victor Olofsson From Conditioning Loan, Assign Two To AHL

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The Golden Knights have made a trio of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Winnipeg.  The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Victor Olofsson has been recalled from AHL Henderson with his conditioning loan now complete.  Meanwhile, winger Mason Morelli and blueliner Robert Hagg have been re-assigned to the Silver Knights.

Olofsson signed with Vegas in free agency over the summer, inking a one-year, $1.075MM deal in the hopes of rebuilding his value after a tough final couple of years in Buffalo.  The 29-year-old got off to an impressive start with two goals in the season opener while adding another tally in his fourth outing.  However, that was his last appearance with them thanks to a lower-body injury that landed him on LTIR.

Olofsson was sent down on November 18th but didn’t see any game action with Henderson.  That trend will continue for the time being as he’s not expected to suit up against the Jets.

Morelli, meanwhile, has been recalled three times recently but it hasn’t resulted in much playing time as he has just one appearance with Vegas this season, one that saw him play just 7:31.  He has been productive with the Silver Knights though, notching five goals and four assists in 13 games thus far.

As for Hagg, he also has been shuffled back and forth quite frequently over the last week and a half.  The veteran has suited up twice for the Golden Knights this season, making it nine straight years with appearances at the top level.  However, he’s averaging just over 11 minutes per game while also recording 11 hits in those outings.  He has gotten off to a nice start offensively in the minors, however, picking up eight points in 14 games with Henderson.

With the moves, Vegas has once again exited LTIR and is back to banking a small amount of cap room.  Ben Hutton is presently on LTIR so if the Golden Knights need to bring anyone up later on, they will have the flexibility to do so by using Hutton’s $975K buffer.

Minor Transactions: 11/25/24

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There have been quite a few paper transactions made across the NHL today as teams continue to try to save every little bit of cap room they can.  Here’s a rundown of today’s moves, per the AHL’s transactions log.

  • The Oilers have reassigned defenseman Josh Brown and forward Drake Caggiula to AHL Bakersfield. Brown has been shuffled back and forth in recent days while Caggiula was recalled back on Thursday.  Edmonton is off until Friday and the moves allow them to dip out of using LTIR and bank a small amount of cap space for the next few days.  At least one of them, if not both, will likely be recalled later in the week.
  • A day after being papered down, the Bruins have recalled forward Marc McLaughlin and defenseman Jordan Oesterle from AHL Providence. McLaughlin hasn’t played for Boston yet this season while Oesterle suited up three times earlier this month.
  • The Hurricanes have recalled winger Jackson Blake and goaltender Spencer Martin from their latest paper loan to AHL Chicago. Both players have been shuffled back and forth routinely in cap-saving moves.
  • A day after the Devils loaned wingers Shane Bowers and Nolan Foote along with defenseman Nick DeSimone to AHL Utica, the trio was recalled today. Sunday’s demotions allowed them to clear LTIR for the day but they are back to using it for the time being now.
  • After being papered down on Sunday, the Golden Knights have recalled wingers Mason Morelli and Callahan Burke, who scored his first NHL goal on Saturday in a win over Montreal. They also brought back blueliner Robert Hagg who was both recalled (on an emergency basis) and sent down on Saturday.  Hagg’s recall moves Vegas back into using LTIR for now.

Golden Knights Recall Robert Hägg

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The Golden Knights announced Thursday that they’ve recalled defenseman Robert Hägg from AHL Henderson. They returned winger Jonas Røndbjerg to Henderson after a brief recall to create a spot on the active roster, per the NHL’s media site.

Vegas was carrying 15 forwards and six defensemen, so the swap gives them an extra defenseman for the four remaining games on their road trip. Nicolas Hague is dealing with an undisclosed injury and has been on injured reserve for nearly two weeks, while the team placed Ben Hutton on LTIR on Tuesday after he sustained an upper-body injury against the Capitals over the weekend.

It’s Hägg’s first time being recalled since clearing waivers and heading to the AHL during preseason. The 29-year-old lefty signed a one-way, league-minimum deal on the second day of free agency to give Vegas some reinforcements on the back end, although it was clear he was low enough on their depth chart heading into camp that he would end up on waivers despite the one-way structure indicating otherwise.

Hägg has nearly 350 games of NHL experience, although his five appearances with the Ducks last year were his fewest since 2016-17, indicative of his decline into a minor-league fixture. He’s one of just four players to play in all 14 games for Henderson so far this season, ranking second among their defensemen in scoring with eight points (1 G, 7 A) and a -1 rating.

Meanwhile, Røndbjerg’s second recall of the young season ends without an appearance. The 25-year-old Dane appeared twice for Vegas earlier this month, posting a -1 rating in under 15 minutes of total ice time. The 2017 third-round pick has six points in 10 games for Henderson.

Golden Knights Notes: Marchessault, Theodore, Hagg

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The departure of Jonathan Marchessault to Nashville in free agency was one of the bigger surprises with many expecting that he’d have re-signed with the Golden Knights.  Team reporter Gary Lawless transcribed a part of a Sirius XM interview with Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon where he indicated that while they eventually went to four years on their offer for the 33-year-old, they weren’t comfortable going to five which is how many he received from the Predators.  Marchessault spent seven seasons with Vegas, recording 192 goals and 225 assists in 514 games, making him the franchise leader in every category.

More from Vegas:

  • One player who will beat at least one of those club records this season is defenseman Shea Theodore who sits just two assists behind Marchessault (while also being 70 games behind that mark). The 29-year-old is entering the final year of his contract and Vegas’ Jason Pothier highlights how it won’t be easy to retain him.  Theodore held out for a pricey post-entry-level contract after being acquired (one that sees him making $5.2MM) and has been one of the more productive blueliners since then, ranking 13th in points by a defender since 2018.  He’ll begin his next deal at 30 and could add $3MM or more to his current price tag.  With Alex Pietrangelo and Noah Hanifin already on the books at more than $16MM combined, it might be tough for the Golden Knights to afford a third big-ticket rearguard on their books.
  • Veteran free agent blueliner Robert Hagg inked a one-year, one-way deal worth $775K with Vegas this summer. The 29-year-old told Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom that he had an offer from Modo in Sweden this summer which would have been a return to the program he played in before making the move to North America.  However, after a rough 2023-24 season that saw him play in just five NHL games with Anaheim, Hagg wanted an opportunity to show that he can be more of a contributor at the top level and isn’t ready to return to play at home just yet.

Golden Knights Sign Callahan Burke, Robert Hägg

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The Golden Knights have brought in forward Callahan Burke and defenseman Robert Hägg on one-year deals for 2024-25, per their CapFriendly pages. Burke’s is a two-way deal paying him $775K in the NHL and $300K in the minors, while Hägg’s contract is a one-way worth $775K.

Burke, 27, began his professional career as an undrafted free agent signing by the AHL’s Colorado Eagles in 2020 out of Notre Dame. The Massachusetts native worked his way up the organizational ladder, playing a season and a half for the Eagles before earning an entry-level deal from the Avalanche in December of 2021. He remained with the Avs on two-way deals for the next few seasons, eventually making his NHL debut over a two-game stint early in the 2022-23 campaign.

The Avs traded Burke to the Hurricanes just after this past season began, but without a full-time AHL affiliate in 2023-24, Carolina loaned him back to the Eagles for the entirety of the year aside from a one-game call-up in October. He didn’t register a point in his three combined NHL showings over the past two seasons, posting a -1 rating while averaging 8:14 per game. The 5’10”, 183-lb forward is coming off a decent season with the Eagles, tying his career-high of 16 goals and 39 points in 57 games.

He provides some veteran experience for AHL Henderson, where he’s likely destined for should he clear waivers during training camp.

Despite being signed to a one-way deal, a similar fate likely belies Hägg, who played just five games with the Ducks last season and spent nearly all of the campaign on assignment to AHL San Diego. Now 29, the Swede is a decent call-up option with nearly 350 games of NHL experience. He could provide some decent competition for Ben Hutton and Kaedan Korczak for an extra defense spot out of camp, but the latter signing a two-year, one-way deal earlier this week indicates Vegas is likely ready to give the 23-year-old more consistent big-league minutes.

Hägg was a second-round pick of the Flyers in 2013, suiting up in 236 games for them over five seasons before being traded to the Sabres in 2021. Since then, he’s played spot duty on the Panthers’ and Red Wings’ blue lines as well as Anaheim’s.

Snapshots: Kulikov, Hagg, Blidh

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Continuing with their five-game homestand this week, the Florida Panthers may be without defenseman Dmitry Kulikov tomorrow night against the Anaheim Ducks (X Link). It is unclear what exactly is plaguing Kulikov, but he only managed a tad under 14 minutes of ice time in the team’s most recent loss to the New Jersey Devils.

If Kulikov is unable to play on Monday, it likely means that Josh Mahura will join the bottom-pairing on defense, after serving as a healthy scratch since December 16th. Although there is an argument to be made that Mahura is ultimately the more well-rounded defenseman comparatively, Kulikov’s recent work on the penalty kill has given the Panthers little choice but to put him in the lineup.

Already operating as the fifth-best penalty kill in the league, Florida’s penalty kill has allowed only four goals in the last 17 games, as they’ve been operating at over 90% efficiency for over a month. The penalty kill unit as a whole is bigger than just one defenseman, but Kulikov’s ability to shut down the other team’s top power-play units has been a tremendous boon to the Panther’s defensive core this season.

Other snapshots:

  • Per the AHL transactions page, the Ducks have returned defenseman Robert Hagg to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Hagg was originally recalled on an emergency basis on January 9th, in correspondence with Anaheim’s trade of Jamie Drysdale to the Philadelphia Flyers only a day prior. Fortunately for Hagg, he was ultimately able to make his Ducks’ debut, playing in two games overall, with no points to show for.
  • The New York Rangers have assigned forward Anton Blidh to their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, per a team announcement. It was a brief stay with the Rangers for Blidh, who was originally recalled on an emergency basis to suit up in last night’s game against the Washington Capitals. In only a little over five minutes of ice time, Blidh had very little effect on the outcome of the game, and will now return to a Hartford team where he has nine points in 29 games on the season.

Ducks Recall Robert Hagg

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When the Ducks moved Jamie Drysdale to Philadelphia as part of yesterday’s trade that saw them acquire prospect Cutter Gauthier, a spot on their back end was opened up.  It didn’t take long for them to fill it as Anaheim has recalled defenseman Robert Hagg from the minors, per the AHL’s transactions log.

The 28-year-old was an NHL regular on the blueline only a few years ago but injuries have limited him since then.  After only getting into 38 games last season with Detroit, Hagg didn’t have the strongest of markets last summer in free agency, resulting in him settling for a one-year deal at the league minimum.

The thought was that Hagg would provide some grit at the back of their back end with GM Pat Verbeek clearly making toughness a priority over the summer.  But things didn’t go quite as anticipated as Hagg wound up clearing waivers in training camp with several of Anaheim’s top defensive prospects getting roster spots instead.

Since then, Hagg has played regularly with the Gulls, getting into 22 games so far in his first taste of AHL action since the 2016-17 season and has four points in those appearances.  This is his fourth NHL recall of the season but he didn’t get any playing time in the first three.  He won’t be in the lineup tonight against Nashville so his season debut will have to wait a little longer.

Snapshots: Sabres, Kulich, Hagg

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Still without forwards Jeff Skinner, Zemgus Girgensons, and Jordan Greenway, the Buffalo Sabres have dealt with numerous injuries to their forward core this season, but should be welcoming an up-and-coming player back to the lineup tonight. In an article from Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News, there is every expectation that Jack Quinn will draw back into the active roster, and make his season debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Dealing with an Achilles injury suffered in late June, Quinn has been prohibited from building upon his rookie season last year, in which he scored 14 goals and 37 points in 75 games, finishing 12th in Calder Trophy voting. Seeing their offensive output drop from third in the league last year, to only 26th in the league this season, the Sabres will only benefit from reintroducing Quinn back into the lineup.

After just failing to reach the playoffs last season, Buffalo currently holds a 13-6-3 record through 32 games this year, sitting 5th in the Atlantic Division and five points behind the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. With Quinn undoubtedly needing a few games to get back to full speed, the Sabres are hoping increased health in the organization will help change the trajectory of their season.

Other snapshots:

  • Staying in Buffalo, Lysowski mentions in the same article that the team has loaned top prospect, Jiri Kulich, to Team Czechia for the 2023 World Junior Championships. Kulich was originally drafted 28th overall by the Sabres in the 2022 NHL Draft and has transitioned rather well to North American hockey. Playing for the Rochester Americans this season, Kulich has 16 goals and 22 points in 22 games, leading the team in scoring.
  • According to Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune, the Anaheim Ducks have sent defenseman Robert Hagg down to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Originally recalled on December 10th, Hagg served as a healthy scratch for all five of the team’s games in the meantime, failing to suit up once for Anaheim this season.

Ducks Recall Robert Hagg, Tristan Luneau Loaned To Team Canada

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The Anaheim Ducks have announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Robert Hagg from the AHL. Hagg has spent the bulk of the season in the AHL with the San Diego Gulls where he has dressed in 15 games and has a goal and two assists. The veteran of 338 NHL games signed a one-year deal with the Ducks on July 4th and did spend time in the NHL, however, he has yet to dress in an NHL game for the Ducks.

The 28-year-old was once a promising prospect after he was drafted in the second round of the 2013 NHL entry draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. He made his debut with the Flyers back in 2016-17 and became a full-time NHLer the following year. Hagg stayed in the NHL for six full seasons but bounced around to four different organizations and often found himself to be a healthy scratch. As his career went on teams began to shelter his usage, often giving him the bulk of his starts in the offensive zone to try and set him up for success. This past offseason Hagg was able to secure a one-way NHL contract for the league minimum of $775K, however, thus far he has only seen action in the AHL.

Hagg was recalled to replace rookie defenseman Tristan Luneau who was loaned to Team Canada by the Ducks for the upcoming World Junior Championship. The 19-year-old was the Ducks’ second-round pick in 2022 and was recalled by the club back in November to make his NHL debut. So far this season in seven games, Luneau has a goal and two assists and has averaged almost 18 minutes a night in ice time.

Ducks Recall Robert Hagg

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The Ducks have made a roster move in advance of tomorrow’s game against Vegas.  They’ve announced that they have recalled defenseman Robert Hagg from AHL San Diego.

Hagg is in his first season with Anaheim after signing a one-year, $775K one-way deal with them in the first week of free agency.  However, despite a decent showing in the preseason where he had a goal and an assist in just two appearances, the Ducks waived him late in training camp.  He cleared and was assigned to the Gulls where he has played in three games, recording a single assist.  It’s his first AHL action since back in the 2016-17 campaign when he was with Philadelphia,

The 28-year-old battled injuries last season, resulting in him getting into just 38 games with Detroit where he had seven points and 111 hits.  For his career, Hagg has 16 goals, 47 assists, and 985 hits in 338 contests over parts of seven seasons.

On the surface, it appears that this is merely a depth-related promotion.  Anaheim recently loaned Tristan Luneau to San Diego on a conditioning stint, leaving them with just six healthy blueliners on their roster.  Luneau’s stint can last for up to two weeks so it appears that Hagg will serve as injury insurance in the youngster’s absence.

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