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Golden Knights Recall Tanner Laczynski

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The Golden Knights have recalled depth center Tanner Laczynski from AHL Henderson, per a team announcement. He’ll make his Vegas debut tonight against the Canucks with Ivan Barbashev and Nicolas Roy battling upper-body injuries, per Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

It will be the first NHL appearance in just over a year and a half for the 6’1″ pivot. Laczynski, an Ohio State product, was a sixth-round pick of the Flyers in 2016. He spent his entire professional career in the Philadelphia organization, playing mostly with AHL Lehigh Valley but getting a few call-ups along the way, before reaching unrestricted free agency last summer and signing a two-year, $1.55MM contract with the Knights.

Laczynski hasn’t been an offensive factor in his NHL looks, only managing four points in 38 games with the Flyers. But he’s blossomed into a top AHL point producer in recent years, and his pickup has proved prudent for Vegas’ minor-league depth. He leads the Silver Knights in scoring with 19 points (6 G, 13 A) in 17 games and has a -2 rating, a decent mark on one of the league’s worst teams this season.

Laczynski spent all of last season in the minors, posting 44 points in 49 games for AHL Lehigh Valley. He appeared in a career-high 32 NHL games for Philadelphia the year prior, though, averaging 9:31 per game and recording all four of his career points. He won 51.5% of his draws, although he’ll suit up as a third-line winger tonight for Vegas alongside Tomáš Hertl and Alexander Holtz.

Both Barbashev and Roy sustained their injuries on Sunday against the Wild. It’s a damper on a huge season for Barbashev, who’s got 30 points in 31 games and is on pace to smash his career-high of 60 set with the Blues in 2021-22. Pavel Dorofeyev, who has 12 goals to rank second on the team, moves into his first-line left-wing role alongside Jack Eichel and Mark Stone. Roy, who’s been averaging over 16 minutes per game and has 13 points in 31 appearances, will be replaced more directly by Laczynski.

Vegas had an open roster spot before executing the transaction, so no corresponding moves are necessary.

Pacific Notes: Arvidsson, Hyman, Warsofsky, Barbashev

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The Edmonton Oilers received a flurry of injury updates on Tuesday, captured Oilers TV host Tony Brar. Most notably, winger Viktor Arvidsson is expected to return to the lineup sometime this weekend, with Thursday’s matchup against Boston a real possibility. Arvidsson has missed Edmonton’s last 15 games with an undisclosed injury. He landed on injured reserve on November 21st, and could be activated at any point with Edmonton carrying plenty of lineup and cap flexibility.

Arvidsson signed a two-year, $8MM contract with the Oilers this summer, but only managed two goals and five points in 16 games before sustaining his injury. The near month-long absence continues Arvidsson’s nagging bout with injuries. He missed all but 18 games of last season with a lower-body injury, and hasn’t played 80 games in a season since 2016-17. Arvidsson has usually been able to curb routine absences with promising scoring – scoring 52 goals and 123 points in 161 games with the Los Angeles Kings over the last three seasons – but that production hasn’t carried up North just yet.

While Arvidsson hopes to return to the lineup, and the scoresheet, fellow winger Zach Hyman will also be facing injury. Brar reports that Hyman sustained a broken nose, but isn’t expected to miss any playing time. Hyman has 10 goals and 15 points in 26 games this year. He’s a fixture of Edmonton’s top line and power-play unit – a role he stamped with 54 goals and 77 points in 80 games last season.

Other notes from out West:

  • San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky has received a $25,000 fine for inappropriate conduct during Saturday’s game against Utah, per Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. Warsofsky took exception with multiple missed calls throughout the game. Most egregious was a second-period hit to Macklin Celebrini from Utah’s Kevin Stenlund that appeared to be a clear boarding penalty, though refs left it uncalled. Celebrini didn’t suffer any injuries on the hit. Warsofsky will now turn towards the future with slightly lighter pockets, looking to pull San Jose into the win column after a 5-5-0 record in their last 10 games.
  • Vegas Golden Knights winger Ivan Barbashev missed Tuesday’s practice with an upper-body injury, head coach Bruce Cassidy shared with Jesse Granger of The Athletic. Cassidy designated Barbashev as day-to-day. The Russian winger has continued to be a force in the Golden Knight roster, with 30 points – split evenly – in 31 games. The near point-per-game scoring is far-and-away the highest of Barbashev’s nine-year career in the NHL. His current career-high in scoring came in 2021-22, when Barbashev posted 26 goals and 60 points with the St. Louis Blues.

Golden Knights Sign Keegan Kolesar To Three-Year Extension

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The Golden Knights are keeping another veteran in the fold for a few more years.  The team announced that they’ve signed winger Keegan Kolesar to a three-year, $7.5MM extension that begins in the 2025-26 season.

The 27-year-old was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.  Instead, he’ll stay with Vegas through the 2028-29 campaign and will get a nice raise along the way.  Kolesar carries a $1.4MM salary and cap charge in the final year of his current deal, meaning he’ll get an increase of $1.1MM per season on this new agreement.

The Golden Knights acquired Kolesar back in 2017 from Columbus, flipping a mid-second-round pick to the Blue Jackets for his rights; Columbus wound up selecting Alexandre Texier with that selection.  He was initially drafted in the third round (69th overall) by Columbus.

Kolesar has been a full-time regular for the Golden Knights since the 2020-21 season.  Along the way, he has chipped in a bit offensively while becoming one of the more physical wingers in the league, notching at least 246 hits in each of the last three years.

This season, Kolesar has been more impactful in the offensive zone.  He has already notched seven goals on the season, good for sixth on the team and just one shy of his career-high that he has reached in each of the last two seasons.  He’s also still collecting more than three hits per game on average while his ATOI of 12:55 is also the highest of his career.

With that in mind, Kolesar was going to be heading for a fair-sized raise on the open market had this deal not been reached, especially since rugged wingers tend to generate a lot of interest in free agency.  Instead, he’ll be sticking around with the Golden Knights where he’ll remain one of their longest-tenured players.

Evening Notes: Arvidsson, Allen, Whitecloud, Sasson

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Edmonton Oilers winger Viktor Arvidsson has resumed skating for the first time since exiting the lineup last month with an undisclosed injury, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch shared with Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic. Knoblauch added that the hope is that Arvidsson will return to team practices next week. Little about the veteran winger’s injury has been revealed. He played through 14 minutes of ice time in his most recent game – an overtime win over the Islanders on November 12th. The Oilers announced Arvidsson as banged up shortly after that game, designating him as day-to-day. He was placed on injured reserve nine days later, and has since missed Edmonton’s last 11 games.

Arvidsson signed a two-year, $8MM contract with Edmonton this summer, but hasn’t found his footing in the new setting just yet. He’s played in 16 games and scored five points this season, though the bulk of that scoring came from a three-assist night against Pittsburgh on October 25th. Arvidsson has scored two goals in eight games since then, but still sits far away from the 31-goal season he managed in 2016-17. Repeated lower-body injuries held Arvidsson out of all but 18 games with the Los Angeles Kings last season, though he still managed an impressive 15 points. He’ll look to return to the lineup, and quickly rediscover his scoring kick, before the calendar turns over.

Other notes around the league:

  • New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen is questionable for the team’s Tuesday game against Toronto per a team announcement. No specifics were provided as to what may limit the veteran backup. Allen was on the wrong side of a shutout on Sunday, allowing three goals on 22 shots in the Devils’ 4-0 loss to Colorado. Despite the losing efforts, Allen’s season-long stat line has been more encouraging – with a 5-4-1 record and .904 save percentage through 10 games. New Jersey would need to recall a backup for Jacob Markstrom should Allen miss Tuesday’s game. Utica Comets starter Nico Daws would likely stand as the next man up. Daws has three wins and a .897 in 13 AHL games this season.
  • Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud returned to full practices on Monday shares Jesse Granger of The Athletic. It’s the next step towards a return after Whitecloud returned to practices with a no-contact jersey on Friday. Head coach Bruce Cassidy told Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Whitecloud is expected to play at some point on Vegas’ upcoming three-game road trip. The 28-year-old defender has two points, 14 penalty minutes, and a +5 through 21 games this season; while operating out of a bottom-four role. He’ll be quickly slotted back into the lineup when back to full health, likely bumping Kaedan Korczak to the press box.
  • The Vancouver Canucks are taking advantage of their off-days, assigning waiver-exempt forward Max Sasson to the minor leagues to help accrue cap space ahead of their Tuesday night game. Sasson made his NHL debut earlier this season and has since recorded two assists and a +2 in seven games. The 24-year-old has operated from Vancouver’s fourth-line, and is likely to return with a call-up before the Canucks’ next game. If he does stay in the minors, he’ll be returning to an AHL stat line featuring four goals, nine points, and six penalty minutes through nine games.

Stone Activated Off IR

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As expected, the Golden Knights will welcome back winger Mark Stone to their lineup tonight, notes Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.  The 32-year-old wound up missing 14 games overall due to a pulled muscle, stalling what was a very strong start to his season.  Stone had six goals and 15 assists in 13 games prior to the injury, putting him among Vegas’ top scorers along with linemate Jack Eichel.  With them being off for five days after this game, this is a good chance to test him while ensuring he’ll have ample time off to make sure he’s fully healthy.  Prior to his activation, the Golden Knights had two active roster spots so no corresponding transaction needed to be made.

Zach Whitecloud Still Considered Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury

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  • It’ll still be a few days before defenseman Zach Whitecloud returns to the Vegas Golden Knights lineup. According to Jesse Granger of The Athletic, Whitecloud is still considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury and will miss his fifth straight game tonight. It’s not all bad news on the injury front for the Golden Knights as Granger later reported that captain Mark Stone was upgraded to a full-contact jersey at today’s practice meaning he should return soon.

Golden Knights Place Daniil Chayka On Unconditional Waivers

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Dec. 3: Chayka went unclaimed and is now an unrestricted free agent, Friedman said.

Dec. 2: It appears that the Golden Knights will be parting ways with one of their prospects.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Daniil Chayka has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination.

The 22-year-old was a second-round pick by Vegas back in 2021, going 38th overall.  He signed his entry-level deal just three months later though he spent his post-draft season with OHL Guelph where he had an impressive 39 points in 53 games.

However, point production has not come as easily for Chayka at the professional level.  After putting up eight points in 57 games with AHL Henderson in 2022-23, he followed that up with just seven in 64 appearances in his sophomore year.  This season, Chayka has split time between the Silver Knights (five games) and ECHL Tahoe (four games), recording an assist with each franchise.

Assuming he isn’t claimed, Chayka will be walking away from more than half of his entry-level deal as he’s signed through next season.  If he’s unclaimed and released, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent and could try to catch on with another NHL franchise or look to return to Russia; he played in CSKA Moscow’s system in 2020-21 when the OHL didn’t play that season.

Stone Skates In Non-Contact Jersey

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The Golden Knights could be getting their top winger back relatively soon.  Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal relays (Twitter link) that Mark Stone took part in practice today in a non-contact jersey.  The 32-year-old got off to his best offensive start, recording six goals and 15 assists in the first 13 games of the season before suffering a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup for the last three weeks.  Stone is only on regular injured reserve, not LTIR so he doesn’t have to miss at least 10 games before being activated; he can be re-added to the roster as soon as he gets the green light from team doctors.

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.

Karlsson And Pietrangelo Likely To Play Tonight

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San Jose Sharks forward Mikael Granlund will miss his second straight game and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury (as per Sharks beat writer Curtis Pashelka). The Sharks leading scorer took part in the team’s morning skate but will not play tonight against the Ottawa Senators.

Granlund is in his second season with San Jose and continues to produce offense with nine goals and 15 assists in 23 games. The 32-year-old likely won’t be out for long which is good news for the Sharks as Granlund is almost a certainty to be dealt before the NHL trade deadline.

In other Pacific Division notes:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights tweeted that forward William Karlsson and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo should play tonight’s against the Colorado Avalanche. Karlsson missed the first eight games of the season with a lower-body injury but missed Monday nights for the birth of his second child. The 31-year-old has been solid since returning to action, posting six goals and four assists in 13 games. Pietrangelo suffered an upper-body injury on November 20th in Toronto and has sat out the last three games. He has had a terrific start to the season, with 14 points in his first 19 games.
  • The Los Angeles Kings have recalled forward Samuel Helenius and defenseman Jacob Moverare from the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League (as per AHL Transactions page).  The Kings have made several paper transactions with the two players as of late, trying to do what they can to maximize cap space. The 22-year-old Helenius has dressed in six NHL games this season for the Kings, posting two assists while averaging just over nine minutes a game. Moverare has gone scoreless in four games this season for Los Angeles, averaging a tick over 12 minutes of ice time per game.

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