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Sam Malinski

West Notes: Avalanche Reassignments, Draisaitl, Harley

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Colorado Avalanche have announced that defenseman Caleb Jones and Sam Malinski have been reassigned to the franchise’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. The reasoning behind Malinski’s reassignment is relatively clear, the player made his NHL debut last night and now will return to the Eagles to resume playing a regular role there.

With Jones, the reassignment could mean a few things, as outlined by The Athletic’s Peter Baugh. Jones’ reassignment could be a paper transaction to maintain his waiver-exempt status, or it could be an indication that injured blueliners Josh Manson and/or Samuel Girard are healthy and ready to return to head coach Jared Bednar’s lineup.

Some other notes from the Western Conference:

  • The Edmonton Oilers got a crucial win in new head coach Kris Knoblauch’s debut, but the 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders has come at a personal cost to superstar center Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for what the department termed a “dangerous trip” on Islanders center Bo Horvat.
  • Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer told the media today that defenseman Thomas Harley will be out for tonight’s game when the team hosts the Arizona Coyotes. Harley is, according to DeBoer, dealing with a day-to-day injury, and it was specifically clarified that he is not in concussion protocol. Harley was on the wrong end of a big hit in the most recent Stars contest, so there was fear that his injury could be something more major it but appears the worst has been avoided. Harley has had a solid start to the season on the Stars’ bottom pairing next to Jani Hakanpää and in his absence his spot there is set to go to Joel Hanley.

Colorado Avalanche Recall Sam Malinski

at CDT | by 1 Comment

In correspondence with the team’s decision to reassign forward Riley Tufte to their AHL affiliate earlier this morning, the team has announced they have recalled defenseman Sam Malinski from the Colorado Eagles. If Malinski does manage to receive any playing time for the Avalanche during his recall, it will mark his NHL debut as a professional player.

After his NCAA season came to an end last year with Cornell University, Malinski signed a professional tryout agreement with the Eagles for the rest of the season, parlaying that into a two-year, $1.7MM two-way contract signed with the Avalanche this past summer. In 20 games so far with the Eagles, the 25-year-old has scored six goals and five assists from the blue line, also sitting second on defense in scoring through 13 games this season.

Through four years at Cornell, Malinski played in a total of 91 games, scoring 17 goals and 48 assists, earning the captaincy during his senior season last year. Cornell did not crack the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey tournament until last year, defeating the defending champion Denver University by a score of 2-0. Nevertheless, instead of making their way to the Frozen Four, Cornell would lose to Boston University in the Regional Finals.

Already carrying seven defensemen on their roster after the recall of Caleb Jones, it is more than unlikely that Malinski will find his way into Colorado’s lineup during his callup. However, during the team’s blowout loss to the St.Louis Blues yesterday, a game in which Bowen Byram and Samuel Girard had a -3 rating each, head coach Jared Bednar could send a message to his defensive core by substituting Malinski into the lineup tomorrow night against the Kraken.

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