Flames Recall Dryden Hunt, Sam Morton; Reassign Rory Kerins
The Calgary Flames have made a few changes to their active roster. Calgary announced that they’ve recalled forwards Dryden Hunt and Sam Morton. Additionally, the team has reassigned forward Rory Kerins to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers in a corresponding roster move.
Today’s recall presents an opportunity for Hunt to play in his first NHL game of the season. Despite seeing his role reduced over the last three years in Calgary, Hunt re-upped with the Flames on a two-year, $1.65MM contract this past summer.
Regardless of seeing his opportunity drop at the NHL level, Hunt has become an exceptional offensive force for the Wranglers. Since coming to the organization in a minor swap with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline during the 2022-23 season, Hunt has scored 33 goals and 102 points in 104 games for AHL Calgary. Unfortunately, this has not resulted in NHL success, as Hunt has contributed only three goals and 11 points across 33 games while averaging 11:13 of ice time since his move to Alberta.
Likewise, Morton is another depth forward in the Flames organization who’s been highly successful at the NHL level. Calgary signed Morton as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State University in the 2023-24 season. Since then, he’s scored 29 goals and 64 points in 99 games with the AHL Wranglers. Still, he’s hardly gotten an opportunity at the NHL level. He’s only played in one game for the Flames up to this point, a game in which he scored his first NHL goal.
Meanwhile, Kerins returns to the Wranglers after participating in a couple of games for the Flames. He did average 15:51 of ice time over his recent recall, but went scoreless with a -1 rating. He’s scored five goals and 14 points in 13 games with AHL Calgary this year.
Boston Bruins Place John Beecher On Waivers
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Boston Bruins have placed depth forward John Beecher on waivers. If he clears by this time tomorrow, the Bruins can safely reassign him to the AHL’s Providence Bruins.
The expectation is that the Bruins were making a transaction with Beecher today. Boston may need another defenseman on the active roster with Charlie McAvoy‘s status up in the air. To that end, Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald relayed a note from Bruins head coach Marco Sturm setting the expectation that something would happen with Beecher this afternoon.
Unfortunately, regarding McAvoy, there is some cause for concern. Conor Ryan of The Boston Globe reported earlier that Boston’s medical staff is still evaluating McAvoy, and that surgery hadn’t been ruled out yet.
Potentially falling to six healthy defenseman on the active roster, and coupled with Matej Blumel and Riley Tufte‘s recall this morning, Beecher came the odd-man out of the Bruins’ lineup to fill in the hole on defense.
Beecher had become the odd man out, realistically, before today. The former first-round pick has been dealing with an upper-body injury of late, but has only appeared in six of Boston’s games on the season, tallying one goal. Additionally, he’s seen his ATOI drop by an entire minute compared to last season.
His lack of offense has been a consistent theme for some time now. Despite being a later first-round selection, Beecher has never scored more than 11 points in any single NHL season, and 23 in an AHL campaign. He has shown flashes of quality play in the faceoff dot and on the defensive side of the puck, though not enough to overlook his offensive staleness.
Even if he makes it through waivers unscathed, Beecher’s time in the Bruins organization may be coming to a close. The 24-year-old center, who’s earning a $900K salary at the NHL level this year, is set to become a restricted free agent next offseason and may become a non-tender candidate.
Sabres Recall Zach Metsa, Place Michael Kesselring On IR
The Sabres announced they’ve recalled defenseman Zach Metsa from AHL Rochester. They didn’t have an open roster spot but placed fellow rearguard Michael Kesselring on injured reserve to make one, according to Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News. Kesselring is still being evaluated after sustaining an apparent ankle injury Saturday against the Red Wings, but is expected to be out long-term, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters (including Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550).
Metsa has already been recalled once this season. He was summoned for 11 days last month, resulting in the first four appearances of the 27-year-old’s NHL career. He didn’t record a point and averaged a minuscule 8:49 of ice time per game, but managed to record a +3 rating and four shot attempts. The 5’9″ righty added two blocks and a hit but didn’t have great possession metrics, controlling 42% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 despite starting nearly 80% of shifts in the offensive zone.
The Wisconsin native went undrafted out of the BCHL in 2017 but eventually landed at Quinnipiac University, where he spent five seasons and captained the team to a national championship in 2023. He recorded a 9-28–37 scoring line in 40 games during his graduate season, earning NCAA All-Tournament Team honors, but he didn’t initially secure an NHL contract. He spent the last two seasons on minor-league deals with Rochester before finally landing his first big-league deal, a two-year, two-way pact, from the Sabres in July.
Metsa has rewarded Buffalo’s commitment with his best play yet in the minors. The talented playmaker at the blue line has two goals and nine assists for 11 points through 11 games with a +2 rating. Ten of those points have come in his last six games down in Rochester, including a three-assist night against the Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday.
His right-shot attribute made him the natural replacement for a fellow righty in Kesselring instead of more experienced names like Zachary Jones or Ryan Johnson. He’ll serve as the Sabres’ extra defenseman for the foreseeable future, but with Conor Timmins serving as the only other right-shot rearguard on the active roster, he might have the inside track toward a No. 6 job over lefty Jacob Bryson.
Kesselring, 25, was viewed as the principal piece of the return the Sabres received from the Mammoth for winger JJ Peterka during the offseason. So far, though, it’s been winger Josh Doan who’s proved the more invaluable part of the deal with 12 points in 18 games. That’s not entirely Kesselring’s fault, though. He sustained an undisclosed injury in training camp that, together with his now-injured ankle, has limited him to nine games. However, he’s been a non-factor when healthy, averaging just 15:37 of ice time per game and posting a -3 rating with no points.
Bruins Recall Matej Blumel, Riley Tufte
The Bruins announced they’ve recalled wingers Matěj Blümel and Riley Tufte from AHL Providence. To open the necessary roster space, forwards Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson were placed on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 6 and Nov. 15, respectively. With under $1MM in cap space, Boston also moved defenseman Jordan Harris from standard IR to LTIR to facilitate the recalls.
It’s Blümel’s first recall to Boston since landing there as a Group VI unrestricted free agent over the summer. He was a semi-surprising omission on the Bruins’ opening night roster. Not only did they sign him to a one-way deal worth $875,000, but there was legitimate concern he wouldn’t clear waivers after an exceptionally strong three-year run of play in the minors in the Stars’ system. A fourth-round pick of the Oilers back in 2019, he never signed with Edmonton and instead landed in Dallas as a free agent out of Czechia in 2022.
While Blümel only scored twice in 13 career appearances with Dallas, he was among the AHL’s top players while with the Texas Stars. He was a two-time All-Star and led the league in goals last season with 39, capping off his first campaign above a point per game with 33 assists and 72 points in 69 outings. For a Bruins roster that looked starved for depth scoring coming into the season, he looked like a logical candidate to get an audition in a middle-six role.
That didn’t happen, and Blümel has actually been off to a sluggish start in Providence with two goals in 13 appearances. He’s still added 11 assists to maintain a point-per-game pace, though. With another top-six name in Arvidsson now out week-to-week with his lower-body injury, Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub confirms, Blümel will likely be the one to replace his spot on the depth chart alongside Pavel Zacha.
While Tufte has been more offensively explosive in the minors this season, the 27-year-old’s play style makes him a more natural fit for a bottom-six/fourth-line job. The 6’6″, 230-lb winger is in his second season with the Bruins organization, but hasn’t suited up for them yet this year. He suited up six times last season, going without a point and logging a -3 rating in 9:12 of ice time per game.
The 2016 first-rounder does have 24 games of NHL experience to his name, though, and has been the centerpiece of a red-hot Providence team thus far. He’s tied for the team lead in scoring with eight goals and 16 points in 13 outings while also carrying a team-leading +10 rating. After back-to-back 20-goal campaigns in the minors, he’s more than on track for a third.
Since Mittelstadt’s already missed more than a week, he’s eligible to come off IR at any time. Like Arvidsson, he carries a week-to-week designation because of a lower-body issue, but he’ll presumably be back in the lineup sooner than his frequent linemate this year because he’s already missed four contests. As for Harris, he underwent ankle surgery in late October and isn’t expected back in the lineup until after Christmas.
Lightning Reassign Boris Katchouk
The Lightning announced they’ve reassigned winger Boris Katchouk to AHL Syracuse. They now have two open roster spots, leaving the option for multiple IR activations ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Devils.
Katchouk was recalled last Wednesday in the wake of injuries to depth forwards Pontus Holmberg and Dominic James. It marked the 27-year-old’s first time on an NHL roster since April 2024. The second-round pick of the Lightning in 2016 spent last year on a minor-league contract with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after being non-tendered by the Senators the previous offseason.
The Ontario native returned to the Bolts for his second stint in Tampa over the summer on a two-way deal and cleared waivers during training camp. After the 6’2″ grinder had 21 goals and 49 points in 67 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last year, he got off to a similarly strong start in Syracuse with four goals and nine points through his first 12 games.
With Holmberg, James, and Anthony Cirelli all unavailable for each of the Bolts’ last three games (in addition to the LTIR-bound Nick Paul), Katchouk was never scratched and played each game of his call-up. He didn’t make much of an impact, though. He was held without a point and managed just one shot attempt despite averaging over 12 minutes of ice time per game. Tampa’s injuries forced him to slot in down the middle instead of on the wing, though, a potential explanation for why he looked so overmatched offensively. He went 36.8% in the dot on 19 attempts and recorded five hits.
Katchouk’s recall burned three games and five days off his temporary waiver exemption. After passing through them unscathed in October, Katchouk can remain on the Lightning’s roster for 25 more days or play seven more games until he needs them again to head back to Syracuse.
Maple Leafs Place Brandon Carlo On IR, Recall Jacob Quillan
The Maple Leafs announced they’ve placed defenseman Brandon Carlo on injured reserve, retroactive to Nov. 13. His roster spot has gone to forward Jacob Quillan, who’s been recalled from AHL Toronto.
The Leafs only have $359,833 remaining in their long-term injured reserve pool, per PuckPedia. That isn’t enough space to add Quillan’s $875,000 cap hit to the roster. They’ve presumably shifted one of their IR-bound players to LTIR to create the required flexibility. That’s likely Chris Tanev, who’s been out the longest of the group and has already missed 16 out of the 24 days and seven out of the 10 games required for an LTIR placement. If so, he’ll be eligible for activation on Nov. 26 against the Blue Jackets.
With Carlo now designated for IR as well, neither of the Leafs’ top two right-shot options is on the active roster. The 28-year-old missed Saturday’s loss to the Blackhawks with a lower-body injury. It’s not clear when he sustained it. He didn’t miss a shift in his previous appearances, an overtime loss to the Kings last Thursday. His IR placement rules him out of tomorrow’s game against the Blues, but he can be reinstated ahead of Thursday’s contest against the Blue Jackets.
Carlo, 29 later this month, has had an underwhelming start to his first full season in the blue and white. Acquired at last season’s trade deadline from the Bruins to serve as a stay-at-home complement to Morgan Rielly, his possession numbers have cratered despite softer even-strength minutes than what he was used to in Boston. In 166 minutes together this season, Carlo and Rielly are allowing a team-worst 3.11 expected goals against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, per MoneyPuck.
The 6’5″, 227-lb righty’s lack of physicality has also been apparent. He’s routinely logged over 100 hits per season over his 10-year NHL career, but has just 12 of them through 18 games this year.
Philippe Myers took Carlo’s place alongside Reilly on Saturday night in Chicago, but he cratered the Leafs in his 5-on-5 minutes with an xG% of 5.39 and a CF% of 26.32%. It wouldn’t be surprising to see head coach Craig Berube do some line shuffling and scratch Myers against St. Louis in order to give Troy Stecher his Leafs debut after being claimed off waivers from the Oilers over the weekend.
Quillan, 23, gives Toronto another option at forward as Scott Laughton and Auston Matthews remain on IR. The undrafted center out of Quinnipiac is in his second professional season and earns the recall amid a hot start in the AHL, rattling off two goals and 12 assists for a point per game through 14 appearances. He made his NHL debut last season, although it was short-lived: he skated just 5:21 in a loss to the Senators in January before leaving the game as a result of a knee-on-knee collision with Nick Cousins. The winner of the ECAC’s Best Defensive Forward award in 2023-24 had 18 goals and 37 points in 67 AHL appearances last year.
Mammoth Recall Kevin Rooney
11/16: The Mammoth have reversed this move, recalling Rooney ahead of Monday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. Rooney played in two games with Tucson this weekend, recording no scoring, one penalty, and three shots on goal. Durzi skated in Sunday morning’s practice wearing a no-contact jersey.
11/14: The Mammoth have reassigned center Kevin Rooney to AHL Tucson, Cole Bagley of KSL Sports reports. It’s unclear what, if anything, they plan to do with the open roster spot in the coming days. Defenseman Sean Durzi is somewhat close to coming off injured reserve, but won’t do so until next week at the earliest, head coach André Tourigny said.
Utah signed Rooney to a two-way deal at the beginning of the regular season. The seven-year vet went unsigned throughout the summer until landing a professional tryout with the Devils, who first brought him into the league as an undrafted free agent signing out of Providence College in 2016. Rooney managed a goal and an assist in three preseason games for New Jersey but was ultimately released from his PTO, passed over for a fourth-line job by fellow tryout invite Luke Glendening.
Rooney quickly landed on his feet with the Mammoth and was technically on their opening night roster, although he was waived the following day. Upon clearing, he was sent to Tucson, where he spent the first two weeks of the campaign. The 32-year-old came roaring out of the gate with three goals and an assist in four AHL games before being called up to the Mammoth on Oct. 23, swapping him out for fellow journeyman veteran Andrew Agozzino.
Rooney was around as the second healthy extra forward behind enforcer Liam O’Brien. Utah’s health up front over the past few weeks meant Rooney never actually got into a game during his 22-day call-up, serving as a healthy scratch in 10 straight games. Utah had eight days left until Rooney would have required waivers to head back to Tucson, so with him not playing a meaningful role, they’ll get out ahead of the deadline and give their minor-league affiliate a significant reinforcement.
Kraken Activate Frédérick Gaudreau, Place Kaapo Kakko On IR, Assign Ben Meyers
The Seattle Kraken activated center Frédérick Gaudreau off of injured reserve before Saturday’s win over the San Jose Sharks. He came one day short of missing a full month of action, after sustaining an undisclosed injury in Seattle’s October 16th loss to the Ottawa Senators. In a corresponding move, the Kraken have placed winger Kaapo Kakko on injured reserve. He was designated as out week-to-week with a lower-body injury by head coach Lane Lambert, per Kraken broadcaster Alison Lukan.
Gaudreau was immediately folded back into the lineup. He played nearly 17 minutes of ice time on Saturday and recorded two shots and one block. Gaudreau recorded one assist and five blocks in five games prior to his injury. He has stepped up as a core piece of the Kraken bottom-six in his first season with the club. Gaudreau spent the last four seasons with the Minnesota Wild, where he posted 134 points in 307 games. That includes career years in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. He posted his highest scoring seasons in those years, netting 44 and 38 points respectively.
It isn’t entirely clear when Kakko sustained his injury. He hasn’t played since leaving Thursday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets in the first period. He appeared to sustain a non-contact injury – headed down the tunnel after an awkward stumble on a faceoff. Kakko missed the entirety of October with a broken hand that also required an IR placement. He returned for seven games, and managed no scoring, before falling out of the lineup once again.
Rookie Berkly Catton stepped back into the lineup in Kakko’s absence. The 19-year-old was an electric scorer through four years in the WHL, including back-to-back 100-point seasons over the last two years. Despite that, he has only recorded three assists through 13 NHL games this season. Catton should stick in the lineup as Seattle looks to continue developing their young stars, though Lambert has shown a preference for limiting the youngster’s ice time. He will continue operating behind Ryan Winterton, Jani Nyman, and Tye Kartye.
With Catton’s standing seemingly ensured, Seattle has also assigned Ben Meyers back to the minor-leagues. Meyers hasn’t appeared in the lineup since Thursday. He has three points, eight shots on goal, and 14 hits through nine games this season. He’s also recorded two goals and a minus-four in three games with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. Meyers scored 51 points in 57 AHL games last season, and will look to get back to that productivity with this transaction.
Canadiens’ Kirby Dach Out Four-To-Six Weeks With Fractured Foot
The Montreal Canadiens have announced that forward Kirby Dach will miss the next four-to-six weeks after fracturing his right foot. In his place, Montreal has recalled winger Joshua Roy from the AHL. This marks the third-straight season that Dach has sustained a long-term injury, after facing season-ending knee injuries in each of the last two years.
This injury is luckily not related to any of Dach’s prior absences – but the hits keep on coming for the oft-injured 24-year-old. He was working his way back into a core role in Montreal’s offense this season, with five goals and seven points through 15 games so far. That scoring pace is well above last season, when Dach scored 20 points in 57 games. He is now seven years into his NHL career, but hasn’t yet appeared in more than 70 games in a single season. That healthiest year came in 2021-22, when he scored 26 points with the Chicago Blackhawks. Dach’s career year came in the following season, when he potted 38 points in 58 games in his first year with the Canadiens, before late-season injuries cut his year short.
Montreal was showing restraint with Dach’s minutes, even as his scoring grew. He has only averaged 14 minutes of ice time this season, despite routinely filling a second-line, usually rotating between center and left-wing. That’s proven especially conservative deployment, considering Dach has also appeared on the second power-play unit. But the added care will prove for naught, and Dach will land on the sideline once again.
This could prove a lucrative opportunity for Roy, who hasn’t yet received an extended chance at NHL minutes. The Quebec-native has scored seven points in 10 games for the AHL’s Laval Rockets, good for fifth on the team in scoring. Despite that, he’s only appeared in one NHL game this season, with no notable stat changes. Roy has also received NHL minutes in the last two seasons. He was productive in his first year, netting nine points in his first 23 NHL appearances, but followed it with only two points in 12 games last year. He’s been much more productive in the minors, where he’s totaled 74 points in 98 games across four seasons. If Roy doesn’t stick in the NHL, the Canadiens could turn towards prospect Sean Farrell as their next man up.
Rangers Recall Scott Morrow, Reassign Gabriel Perreault
The New York Rangers have swapped prospects on the NHL roster. Defenseman Scott Morrow has been recalled once again, while winger Gabriel Perreault will return to the minors in his spot. Perreault played in his first NHL games of the season over New York’s last three games. He recorded one assist, a plus-two, and four blocked shots.
Despite the meager scoreline, Perreault’s return to the NHL was largely encouraging. He played top-line minutes next to captain J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad in his first game, then worked well off of fellow rookie Noah Laba from New York’s third line for his next two games. The outings proved Perreault’s ability to meet multiple needs in the lineup. Now, he’ll return to a starring role for the Hartford Wolf Pack. Perreault currently leads the AHL club in scoring with 10 points in nine games. He’s the only Wolf Pack scoring above a point-per-game through the early season.
While Perreault continues to grow in the minor-leagues, Morrow will return to the NHL hoping to finally debut with the Rangers. The 23-year-old has been back-and-forth between the NHL and AHL all season long, but has so far only taken the ice for Hartford. He has two points in 11 games with the AHL club, far below the scoring pace that led him to 13 goals and 39 points in 52 games with the Chicago Wolves last season. New York acquired Morrow as part of the deal that sent top-four defender K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes this summer. Prior to the trade, Morrow recorded six points in 16 games with Carolina.
This move could mark the best of both worlds for the Rangers. Hartford is in the midst of a seven-game losing streak that could be snapped with the return of their top scorer. Meanwhile, Morrow stands a reasonable chance to step into New York’s roster after William Borgen sat out of the team’s Saturday matchup with an upper-body injury. Borgen is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.