Aston-Reese was acquired from the Penguins as a part of the Rickard Rakell trade on Monday and will jump right into the Ducks lineup on Wednesday. He is expected to replace Daniel O'Regan in the lineup and skate on the fourth line.
Merzlikins suffered an upper-body during Saturday's game vs. the Blues and is expected to miss some time. The Blue Jackets recalled J-F Berube from the AHL to serve as Joonas Korpisalo's backup on Tuesday.
Aston-Reese missed Tuesday's game with an illness and will remain sidelined in St. Louis. Dominik Simon will stick on the Penguins' fourth line with Aston-Reese out.
Danforth has missed the last two games but is expected to play Wednesday in Ottawa. Danforth, who has tallied five goals with two assists (seven points) in 23 games, will centre the fourth line with Eric Robinson and Emil Bemstrom.
Danforth was an undrafted free agent out of Sacred Heart University, who made his NHL debut earlier this season. The 28-year-old has tallied five goals and two assists in 22 games with the Blue Jackets.
Merzlikins gave up four goals on 32 shots in the Blue Jackets shootout loss to the Bruins one Saturday. Merzlikins started both games of the Blue Jackets' back-to-back last week and will be starting his third game in four nights on Monday. He's 1-1-2 with a .905 SV% in four games since returning from injury.
