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Taxi Squad

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/24/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day.

West Division

  • The Arizona Coyotes have recalled Michael Chaput from the taxi squad to the active roster and Frederik Gauthier from the AHL to the taxi squad. Gauthier, 25, played in 168 NHL games over parts of five seasons with the Maple Leafs but has yet to get into any action for the Coyotes.
  • The Los Angeles Kings have recalled Austin Strand from the taxi squad, after placing Jaret Anderson-Dolan on injured reserve. Anderson-Dolan’s IR stint is retroactive to February 18 when he last played, meaning he can basically return as soon as he’s recovered. The young forward was off to quite the start with five points in his first six games this season.
  • Once their game tomorrow was postponed, the Vegas Golden Knights assigned both Patrick Brown and Logan Thompson back to the AHL. Thompson had only been recalled to the taxi squad earlier today, but turns out won’t be needed as Vegas waits for Saturday to get back into game action.
  • The Anaheim Ducks continued their daily roster shuffling, assigning David Backes to the taxi squad while recalling Andy Welinski and Vinni Lettieri from the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.
  • The Avalanche made a series of roster moves, per CapFriendly.  Logan O’Connor was recalled on an emergency loan with Brandon Saad unavailable with his wife expecting to give birth.  Meanwhile, Hunter Miska and Jayson Megna were sent to AHL Colorado while Peyton Jones was recalled to the taxi squad to give the Avs three goalies.
  • The Blues have recalled Austin Poganski and Jake Walman from the taxi squad while promoting Steven Santini to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Poganski and Walman have played a handful of games for St. Louis this season while the addition of Santini to the taxi squad gives them another veteran with Carl Gunnarsson out for the season.

North Division

  • The Ottawa Senators have recalled Artem Anisimov from the taxi squad after their game last night, while moving Erik Brannstrom and Micheal Haley down. Anisimov could come in for Derek Stepan, who was injured in last night’s game, though since the Senators are off for the day it might simply be a paper transaction for salary savings.
  • The Calgary Flames had Oliver Kylington in their lineup against Toronto, meaning that the blueliner was recalled from the taxi squad.  The 23-year-old has been up and down all season but had suited up just once before tonight’s game.
  • The Montreal Canadiens sent Paul Byron and Nick Suzuki to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly, yielding some small cap savings.  Both players will likely be recalled in time for their game tomorrow against Winnipeg.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled Scott Sabourin on a roster emergency exception and assigned Nic Petan to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Sabourin has yet to play since having his AHL deal converted to a two-way NHL contract while Petan has an assist in six games this season.

Central Division

  • The Nashville Predators have reassigned Eeli Tolvanen and Ben Harpur to the taxi squad, the same move they do on nearly every off day. The Predators won last night and Tolvanen scored his second goal of the season, bringing his career total to three.
  • Andrew Peeke is headed back to the minor leagues for now, assigned to the Cleveland Monsters by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Peeke has played in six NHL games with Columbus this season but looked a bit overmatched at times, so will get back on the ice in the AHL.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have sent Kaden Fulcher back to the AHL from the taxi squad, though if he plays for the Grand Rapids Griffins it would be his first action at that level. The 22-year-old undrafted goaltender has an appearance in the NHL, but otherwise has only seen the ECHL as a professional.  They also returned Danny DeKeyser and Mathias Brome to the taxi squad, extending DeKeyser’s waiver exemption and saving some salary on Brome.
  • After clearing waivers, Tanner Kero has been assigned to the taxi squad by the Dallas Stars. In his place, Nicholas Caamano and Rhett Gardner have been recalled.
  • After he cleared waivers earlier today, the Panthers assigned Tommy Cross to Providence of the AHL.  Florida’s affiliate opted out of this season so Cross instead returns to a team he’s quite familiar with having spent parts of seven seasons with them from 2011-12 through 2017-18.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes are back in action tonight and accordingly have recalled Alex Nedeljkovic, Jake Bean, and Steven Lorentz from the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  In order to stay compliant with the minimum taxi squad size, Dave Gust was recalled to the taxi squad from AHL Chicago.
  • After not getting picked up off waivers, the Lightning loaned Luke Schenn to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  Not much will change for him as he’ll likely continue to go back and forth until he plays in ten more games with Tampa Bay and becomes waiver-eligible again.  Meanwhile, Callan Foote and Ross Colton were recalled from the taxi squad.

East Division

Four Players Placed On Waivers

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Feb 24: Friedman has been claimed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The other three have cleared and can now be assigned to the taxi squad or minor leagues.

Feb 23: The Philadelphia Flyers have placed Mark Friedman on waivers, a move that would allow them to send him to the taxi squad or minor leagues. The Flyers are expected to get several players back from the COVID Protocol list in the coming days, including Claude Giroux today as he re-joined the team for practice.

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, three other players–Tanner Kero, Tommy Cross and Luke Schenn–have also been placed on waivers today.

Friedman (the player, not the scribe), has played in four games for the Flyers this season, including their outdoor match at Lake Tahoe. He was forced to play both forward and defense in that game thanks to the large number of regulars out of the lineup, but that just shows how far down he is on the defensive depth chart at this point. His placement on waivers shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given how easily players have passed through this season.

Kero is much of the same story, having already cleared waivers earlier this year. The 28-year-old center has played in nine games and has two points, but usually shuffles between the active roster and taxi squad for the Dallas Stars and isn’t expected to be claimed. Kero has two points and 24 total in his 81-game NHL career. Cross meanwhile has just three games under his belt at the NHL level and none since the 2015-16 season. The 31-year-old put up 21 points in 50 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds last season.

It’s Schenn that is the interesting name here, even if he too is unlikely to be claimed. The 31-year-old defenseman has nearly 800 games of NHL experience and a recent Stanley Cup on his resume with the Tampa Bay Lightning. For just an $800K salary that’s a ton of experience that could be useful to a banged-up team. In 14 games this season Schenn has just one point, but that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. He has just 149 points in his long career and hasn’t scored more than 16 since the 2011-12 season.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/23/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day.

West Division

North Division

  • The Ottawa Senators have flipped Artem Anisimov and Micheal Haley again, with the former headed to the taxi squad and the latter moving to the active roster. The Senators are back in action tonight against the Montreal Canadiens and obviously will not have Anisimov in the lineup.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have sent Charlie Lindgren to the AHL in order for him to play the Laval Rocket games this week. Michael McNiven has been recalled to the taxi squad to serve as the third goaltender while Lindgren gets some game action.
  • Patrick Russell has been recalled from the Edmonton Oilers taxi squad on an emergency basis, perhaps indicating that he’ll finally get back into the lineup. Russell has played just one game this season and, amazingly, still has zero goals in his 52-game NHL career.

Central Division

  • The Dallas Stars have assigned Ty Dellandrea to the taxi squad, but perhaps only temporarily given that Tanner Kero appeared on waivers today. Dellandrea, 20, has two points in 11 games this season but remains a big part of the Stars’ future.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Danny DeKeyser and Mathias Brome from the taxi squad ahead of their game this evening against the Nashville Predators. Brome finally got his first NHL goal the other night, giving him one point in his first 18 games.
  • Those Predators have made their daily move, though this time it comes with the activation of Ryan Johansen off injured reserve. Nashville has recalled Eeli Tolvanen and Ben Harpur from the taxi squad, while also sending Sean Malone back down. Tolvanen is expected to skate alongside Johansen in tonight’s game.

East Division

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/22/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day.

West Division

North Division

  • The Ottawa Senators have recalled Artem Anisimov from the taxi squad, sending Micheal Haley down in his place. Anisimov cleared waivers earlier this month and has been bouncing back and forth ever since, last playing on Feb 17. The veteran forward has no goals and just a single point in seven games this season. Later on, the Senators also moved Braydon Coburn to the taxi squad, sending Logan Shaw to the minor leagues in the process.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have moved Paul Byron and Jake Evans to the taxi squad, part of their daily rotation to save money and cap space. The Canadiens are back in action tomorrow night where they will look for some revenge against the Senators.
  • With Jacob Markstrom sidelined, the Calgary Flames were required to elevate Artyom Zagidulin from the taxi squad to the active roster. Zagidulin, still looking for his NHL debut, will dress as the backup. Joining him on the roster is defenseman Oliver Kylington who also draws into the lineup, marking the end of a lengthy stretch of scratches dating back to last season.

Central Division

  • The Nashville Predators have recalled Sean Malone from the taxi squad, moving Ben Harpur there instead. Nashville makes a move basically every day as they navigate the cap and use the taxi squad for daily savings.
  • The Florida Panthers have added Riley Stillman to the taxi squad, recalling the young defenseman from the AHL. Stillman, 22, has just 36 games of NHL experience under his belt but is off to a roaring start with the Syracuse Crunch.

East Division

  • The Philadelphia Flyers have loaned David Kase, Derrick Pouliot, Felix Sandstrom, and Matthew Strome back to the AHL, suggesting that some players are coming off the COVID Protocol list. Of course, this could also just be because the Flyers don’t play until Wednesday.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have sent Kevin Czuczman to the AHL and Alex D’Orio to the ECHL, moving Yannick Weber to the taxi squad in the meantime. The team is getting healthier on the back end and suddenly find themselves pushing towards the top of the East once again.
  • Casey Mittelstadt is back with the Buffalo Sabres. The team has announced that the under-performing top prospect has been promoted from the taxi squad to the active roster alongside veteran defenseman Brandon Davidson. Davidson will look to help a blue line that is reeling from the loss of Jake McCabe. 

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/21/21

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As the NHL prepares for another day at Lake Tahoe – one that hopes to run smoothly after Saturday’s debacle – there are also three other games on the Sunday slate. Roster transactions continue to come at a torrid pace this season and today should be no different with a number of teams in action. Keep up with all of the moves right here:

Central Division

  • The Detroit Red Wings have returned a trio of players to the taxi squad. The team announced that veteran defensemen Alex Biega and the recently-waived Danny DeKeyser, as well as rookie forward Mathias Brome, have all been reassigned. After back-to-back games, Detroit is off until Tuesday.
  • Matiss Kivlenieks is on his way back to Columbus after a brief stint in the minors. The Blue Jackets announced that the goaltender has been recalled from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters to join the taxi squad. While the team may give Kivlenieks spot starts in Cleveland from time to time to keep him fresh, he looks to be locked in to that No. 3 taxi squad role for the franchise this season.
  • The Nashville Predators announced they have reassigned forward Eeli Tolvanen to the squad. The 21-year-old has appeared in eight games with the Predators this season.

East Division

  • The New Jersey Devils have swapped a pair of forwards, sending Yegor Sharangovich to the taxi squad while calling up Mikhail Maltsev as his replacement. Although they have been used differently so far this season, both rookies have been effective in the Devils lineup. However, after a hot start Sharangovich has cooled off while Maltsev has performed in his more recent showings. According to the AHL’s Binghamton Devils, New Jersey has also reassigned forward Nick Merkley from the taxi squad to the minors. Merkley has actually played well in the NHL so far this season, recording three points in five games with the Devils.
  • With the losses of Jake McCabe and William Borgen to injuries, the Buffalo Sabres have promoted two players from the Rochester Americans to the taxi squad. The team announced that Jacob Bryson and Casey Fitzgerald will move up and fill the defensive depth void that the team has dealt with over the last few days.

North Division

  • The Edmonton Oilers announced they have recalled defenseman Theodor Lennstrom from the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL and moved him to the taxi squad. The move was required with the injury to defenseman Slater Koekkoek. Lennstrom will need time to quarantine with Bakersfield being in the U.S., requiring the player to cross the border.
  • Ryan Pike of FlamesNation reports that the Calgary Flames have made a salary cap move, sending defenseman Oliver Kylington to the taxi squad and thereby filling up their taxi-squad roster. The 23-year-old has yet to appear in a game for the Flames this season.
  • The Ottawa Senators announced they have recalled a number of players from the taxi squad for Sunday’s game, including goaltender Joey Daccord, defenseman Braydon Coburn and forward Micheal Haley. The team also assigned forward Artem Anisimov to the taxi squad to make room for them and also moved Logan Shaw from the Belleville Senators of the AHL to the taxi squad.

West Division

  • The Minnesota Wild have moved a pair of young players back to the minors. The team announced that defenseman Calen Addison and goalie Dereck Baribeau have been reassigned to AHL Iowa. Addison, one of Minnesota’s top prospects, logged over 18 minutes of ice time on average through his first three NHL games.
  • The Arizona Coyotes announced they have swapped several players from the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL and the taxi squad. The team has assigned forwards Frederik Gauthier and Kyle Capobianco from the Tucson to the taxi squad. The Coyotes also assigned forwards Hudson Fasching and Michael Chaput to Tucson to replace them. Capobianco has appeared in two games for Arizona this season.
  • The San Jose Sharks announced they have reassigned forward Maxim Letunov and goaltender Josef Korenar to the San Barracuda of the AHL. Neither player has appeared in a Sharks game this season.

Matt Tennyson Clears Waivers

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Saturday: Tennyson has cleared waivers, Johnston reports. New Jersey quickly moved him to the taxi squad, while assigning Nicholas Merkley to the AHL.

Friday: Off the COVID Protocol and onto the wire, Matt Tennyson has been placed on waivers by the New Jersey Devils according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. The team also put Eric Comrie and Connor Carrick there in recent days, losing the former back to his old team. Tennyson already did clear earlier in the season, but needed to go through the process again if the Devils wanted to assign him to the taxi squad or minor leagues.

With Sami Vatanen, Dmitry Kulikov, and Will Butcher all assuming their spots on the active roster, it was always going to be a tough squeeze for Tennyson. The 30-year-old served as a filler through ten games this season but was regularly caved in possession-wise, just as he has been for most of his career. Undrafted, Tennyson used his three years at Western Michigan University to build up his profile before hitting the professional ranks. He’s turned in quite a nice little career, spending 154 games in an NHL lineup.

Still, it seems unlikely that he will be claimed (if for no other reason than waiver claims are extremely rare these days.) More likely is he clears tomorrow and returns to the practice squad, where he can continue to serve as injury insurance for the Devils. Even there he might not be the first up, as Carrick cleared and could be used whenever the team needs a body.

East Notes: Crosby, Ristolainen, Bruins

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Tonight is a milestone game for Penguins center Sidney Crosby as he plays in his 1,000th career NHL contest, all in a Pittsburgh uniform.  However, with the team struggling, some have speculated as to whether or not the 33-year-old would be better off or happier with a trade.  Speaking with reporters including NHL.com’s Wes Crosby, the captain tried to downplay that, reiterating his desire to stay with the that drafted him first overall in 2005:

Nothing’s changed. [The rumors are] definitely kind of a new subject that I’ve had to deal with and hear about a little bit. But I love playing here. This is where I’d love to play for the rest of my career. So I can’t really control what’s said or rumors or things like that, but that’s just kind of how I approach it.

Crosby is off to a bit of a slower start by his standards having averaged over a point per game in all of his first 15 NHL seasons but still sits second in scoring on the Penguins this season with six goals and seven assists in 15 games.

Elsewhere in the East Division:

  • While Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is off the CPRA list, he’s not expected to join the team on their current road trip and remains out indefinitely, Lance Lysowski and Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News report. The 26-year-old had a particularly rough case of the virus and head coach Ralph Krueger indicated that it will be a “long process” for the blueliner to return to the lineup.  Ristolainen was off to a strong start to his year with six points in ten games while logging over 23 minutes per night but it appears that he will be out for a while yet.
  • The Bruins will be without center David Krejci and defenseman Kevan Miller for their outdoor game at Lake Tahoe tomorrow, notes Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette (Twitter link). Krejci is dealing with a lower-body injury sustained on Thursday versus New Jersey while Miller’s absence is believed to be more for rest as he works his way back from missing all of last year.  Jack Studnicka and Urho Vaakanainen were both recalled to Boston’s taxi squad yesterday.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/20/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day.

Central Division

  • The Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned defenseman Alex Biega to the taxi squad. Detroit recalled him for yesterday’s game against Florida but didn’t suit up.  The 32-year-old has played just once so far this season.
  • The Blue Jackets have recalled defenseman Gabriel Carlsson from the taxi squad, per a team release.  The blueliner cleared waivers earlier this week but his presence on the roster is now needed with David Savard out for today’s game due to a non-COVID illness.
  • The Dallas Stars have recalled Joel Kiviranta from the taxi squad, bringing up Rhett Gardner from the AHL in his place. The Stars haven’t played in a week and won’t be back in game action until Monday.

North Division

  • The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled winger Michael Frolik to their taxi squad from AHL Laval. The veteran was sent down at the beginning of the week to get into a couple of games for conditioning purposes and has yet to play for Montreal.
  • After loaning Joey Daccord to the AHL yesterday to make a spot start, the Senators announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled him to the taxi squad. The 24-year-old has allowed five goals in each of his two minor league starts this season.

East Division

  • Ilya Samsonov won’t be making his return to the lineup today after all. The Capitals announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent the netminder back to the taxi squad and have once again recalled Craig Anderson for their game against the Rangers.
  • After clearing waivers, the Devils assigned defenseman Matt Tennyson to their taxi squad, CapFriendly reports.  The blueliner has played in ten games this season, recording one assist while averaging 13:43 per game in ice time.
  • The Islanders have once again promoted winger Oliver Wahlstrom and Leo Komarov from the taxi squad, reports Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link).  New York has been shuffling their waiver-exempt prospects back and forth all season while Komarov recently cleared waivers again, allowing them to do the same with the 34-year-old.

West Division

  • Colorado has assigned defenseman Kyle Burroughs from their taxi squad to the AHL, per the AHL’s transactions log.  He was recalled to the Avalanche’s taxi squad last Friday but didn’t get into any game action.
  • The Kings have brought up one of their top prospects to their taxi squad, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Rasmus Kupari from AHL Ontario.  The 20th-overall pick in 2018 leads the AHL in assists (seven) and points (eight) in the early going this season.
  • Arizona has loaned defenseman Kyle Capobianco and center Frederik Gauthier to AHL Tucson, per the AHL’s transaction log.  Capobianco has played in two games with the Coyotes this season while Gauthier, who was a regular on Toronto’s roster last year, has yet to play in 2021.  They’ll have an opportunity to see some game action now.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Snapshots: Rescheduling, Avalanche, Wild, Thompson

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In a season that has been disrupted by several COVID-19 outbreaks and historically-bad weather in Texas, the NHL schedule maker has been forced to constantly snip and edit things to fit in all 56 games. Today, the league announced that tomorrow’s game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes will be postponed to another date, with the Hurricanes taking on Tampa Bay Saturday night instead. The Lightning and Hurricanes were already set to start a three-game series on Monday, meaning they’ll now face each other in four consecutive games. The Blackhawks-Hurricanes game? It doesn’t have a date yet.

Some more updates from around the league:

  • The Colorado Avalanche have almost everyone available for tomorrow’s outdoor game at Lake Tahoe, including captain Gabriel Landeskog and defenseman Samuel Girard, who were recently on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list. That doesn’t necessarily mean Girard, who was still on the list as of yesterday, will play but he is eligible to. According to Dan Rosen of NHL.com, Cale Makar is still a game-time decision as he continues to deal with an upper-body injury.
  • The Minnesota Wild also welcomed back several familiar faces to practice today, now that the team is down to just Andrew Hammond on the COVID Protocol list. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Dakota Mermis, Luke Johnson and Kyle Rau have all been sent to the taxi squad to make room for the returning players, though Calen Addison will currently stay on the active roster.
  • Nate Thompson has been activated from injured reserve by the Winnipeg Jets and he is expected to be in the lineup tonight when the team faces off against the Vancouver Canucks. Thompson has played just four games for the Jets this season after signing a one-year, $750K deal in October. The veteran forward is expected to take the spot of Kristian Vesalainen, who is still looking for his first NHL goal.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/19/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day.

West Division

  • The Arizona Coyotes have recalled goaltender David Tendeck all the way from the ECHL, assigning him to the taxi squad. Aaron Ness has been moved down to the AHL to make room. Antti Raanta did not skate today after being listed as day-to-day yesterday, meaning the team needed an extra goaltender. Tendeck, 21, has a .913 save percentage through 13 games for the Rapid City Rush.
  • Brendan Guhle remains on injured reserve for the Anaheim Ducks, but the club has assigned him to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls on a Long-Term Injury Conditioning Loan. Joining him in the minors is fellow defender Kodie Curran, who has been demoted from the Ducks’ taxi squad.

North Division

Central Division

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have assigned Liam Foudy and Adam Clendening to the AHL, recalling Gavin Bayreuther to the taxi squad. Foudy has just three points in 12 games this season and doesn’t look quite ready to contribute on a nightly basis. After only turning 21 a few weeks ago, he has plenty of time to continue his development.
  • In their daily move, the Nashville Predators have recalled Ben Harpur from the taxi squad, re-assigning Michael McCarron and Eeli Tolvanen in the process. The team has fliped these three back and forth almost every day for the last week.

East Division

This page will be updated throughout the day.

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