This is Gilbert's second call-up of the season and this time he could stick around for a while. Connor Murphy was moved to LTIR on Wednesday, so Gilbert could become a main-stay in the Blackhawks lineup moving forward. He will have to battle Slater Koekkoek for that right and comes up with no points in three AHL games.
Deslauriers made his season debut on Saturday, playing 11:06 TOI and getting into a fight with Brendan Dillon. He will be replaced on the Ducks fourth line by Nick Ritchie.
Gilbert was with the Blackhawks in Prague so the “recall” was just a formality. Gilbert was a third-round pick in 2015 and will play in his second career NHL game because Calvin de Haan and Connor Murphy are injured to begin the season. The 22-year-old blueliner had 14 points (5G / 9A) in 63 games in his first AHL season (2018-19).
The Canadiens announced that Juulsen is not dealing with a concussion, but did have a facial fracture after being hit in the face by the puck last November. Juulsen’s status for the start of the regular season is unclear, but these headaches could open up a spot for Cale Fleury to start the year with Montreal.
Konecny ranks 33rd in the NHL in even-strength goals (43) over the last two seasons while playing 15:05 ATOI. In 2020, Konecny figures to be a staple on the top line with Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux and should see a lot more ice-time. That should allow him to get over 200 shots and 24 goals while chipping in close to 30 assists.
Deslauriers had two goals and three assists (five points) in 48 games with the Canadiens last season. Deslauriers is a rugged left winger who will likely play the entire 2020 season on the Ducks fourth-line. He has a career-high of just 15 points (in 2015).
Sanheim had a terrific first full NHL season in 2019, scoring nine goals with 26 assists (35 points) in 82 games with the Flyers. Through the first two months of the season, Sanheim played just 16:19 TOI/gm but by February he was second among Flyers defenseman in TOI, averaging 21:42 per game. Even with Philadelphia bringing in veteran blueliners Justin Braun and Matt Niskanen, Sanheim still projects to be a top-pairing defenseman next to Ivan Provorov in 2020.
Braun is entering the final year of his five year deal that carries a $3.8M cap-hit and is a cap casualty after the Sharks signed Erik Karlsson on Monday. San Jose still needs to sign RFA’s Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc and could extend offers to veteran UFA’s Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Gustav Nyquist. As for the Flyers, they continue to beef up the right-side of their blueline. They parted ways with Andrew MacDonald, swapped Radko Gudas for Matt Niskanan and now add Braun, who had 16 points (2G / 14A) in 78 games a season ago.
Abols, 23, was originally selected in the seventh-round of the 2016 draft by the Canucks before spending the last two season in the Swedish Elite League. The Latvian centre had 18 goals and eight assists (26 points) in 45 games with Orebro HK this past season.
Simmonds was forced to leave Game 2 after being hit by a point-shot by his teammate and is expected to miss at least a couple of weeks with a lower-body issue. Simmonds could return to the Predators lineup if they advance past the first-round, but is expected to be replace by Miikka Salomaki in the meantime.
Gilbert was a third-round pick in 2015 and has 14 points (5G / 9A) in 59 games during his first pro season with Rockford. Gilbert could make his NHL debut as the season winds down.
Ristolainen missed the last four games with an illness but will play on Tuesday. Ristolainen will be back on a pairing with Rasmus Dahlin and enters the game with 39 points (5G / 34A) in 75 games but has the worst plus-minus in the entire league (-42).
Seeler was a healthy scratch on Tuesday but will replace Anthony Bitetto on Thursday. Seeler has just five points (2G / 3A) with a minus-8 rating an 49 PIMS in 60 games this season.
