Love is in the air this Valentine’s Day, especially if you love roster transactions. With the implementation of the taxi squad this season as yet another layer to the recall and reassignment game, there has been nearly four times as many roster transactions so far this season as compared to a normal campaign. Keep track here of what is sure to be a day filled with moves:
Central Division
- The Nashville Predators have recalled defenseman Ben Harpur, replacing the roster spot of forward Eeli Tolvanen who takes his place on the taxi squad. Still without Mattias Ekholm, the Predators have yet to actually deploy Harpur, opting instead to go with Jarred Tinordi as the blue line substitute.
- There’s a sizeable roster overhaul underway in Detroit. The Red Wings, who placed Danny DeKeyser on waivers earlier today, announced that forward Mathias Brome and goaltender Calvin Pickard have been reassigned to the taxi squad, where DeKeyser could join them tomorrow. In a corresponding move, forward Taro Hirose, defenseman Dylan McIlrath, and goalie Kaden Fulcher have all been demoted from the taxi squad to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
East Division
- Washington Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov is finally off the COVID Protocol list, but he has not seen any game action in nearly a month. Rather than throw him right into the fire against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins, the Capitals have announced that Samsonov, still waiver-exempt, has been assigned to the AHL’s Hershey Bears to get some seasoning for the next several days. Vitek Vanecek, in line to make his tenth consecutive start, and veteran Craig Anderson will dress against the Penguins today.
- The Penguins have their own issues in net, as the team announced that Maxime Lagace has been recalled from the taxi squad on an emergency basis and will back up Tristan Jarry today against the Capitals. There is no word on why Casey DeSmith is unavailable to dress.
North Division
- The Ottawa Senators have recalled goaltender Joey Daccord from AHL Belleville and assigned him to the taxi squad, the club announced. They have additionally reassigned goalie Filip Gustavsson to the taxi squad. The Senators have had to shuffle their netminders around with starter Matt Murray currently sidelined, but were fortunate to receive a strong performance from struggling backup Marcus Hogberg on Saturday. Both Daccord and Gustavsson on the taxi squad means that Murray may be ready to return to the active roster, but the team is prepared if he needs more time.
- The 11-7 experiment appears to be over for now in Winnipeg. After suffering a loss to the Senators yesterday, the team has reassigned rookie defenseman Logan Stanley to the taxi squad and appear to be headed back to a standard lineup when they return to action.
West Division
- After making his Coyotes debut on Saturday, Hudson Fasching is heading back to the taxi squad. Arizona announced that the 25-year-old forward has been reassigned, but the career minor leaguer will stay at the top level for now.
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