A Devils goaltending prospect returns to the AHL, the WBS Pens ink an ECHL standout to a PTO, and the long-awaited NHL call-up for a much-hyped Belleville Senator finally took place on Friday.
The Utica Comets will see the return of a familiar face in net.
Nico Daws, who put together a 16-14-3 record with a 2.70 GAA and .904 SP in 33 games with the Comets in 2022-23, has been activated from New Jersey's non-rostered injured reserve and sent to the AHL.
Daws suffered an injury in training camp that has kept him sidelined for the first two months of the 23-24 season.
The 22-year-old third-round draft pick of the Devils in 2020 has suited up for 25 NHL games, winning 10 in 2021-22 with a 3.11 GAA and .893 SP. That same season in Utica the German netminder owned 14 wins in 21 games with a 2.54 GAA and .916 SP.
Daws is expected to spend the bulk of the season in the AHL, barring an injury to one of the tandem of Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have signed ECHL standout Tanner Laderoute to a professional tryout, the club confirmed in a release on Friday.
Through 19 games with the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers this season, the 26-year-old has seven goals and 15 points. Laderoute put together seven points in 11 games with the Nailers in 2022-23.
Laderoute is in his first full season of professional hockey after a five-year collegiate career with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he captained the Bulldogs during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, and won the NCAA National Championship in 2018-19.
NorthlandHe was named an NCHC Distinguished Scholar Athlete in each of his five seasons with the Bulldogs, and he was declared Minnesota-Duluth’s E.L. “Duce” Rasmussen Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year last year.
In 172 career games with the Bulldogs, Laderoute registered 30 goals and 28 assists for 58 points.
It's taken longer than fans, media, and the player would like or expect, but Jiri Smejkal is headed to the NHL.
A standout goal scorer of the Czech, SM-liiga, and SweHL with back-to-back 20-plus goal seasons, Jiri Smejkal was long earmarked by pundits as a shoo-in for a mid-line roster slot with the Senators, yet through two months of play the 26-year-old Czech native has remained in the AHL with Belleville.
The Senators on Friday announced that Smejkal will finally be called up to the National Hockey League off the back of three goals and nine points through 17 games with the B-Sens.
In 2022-23 Smejkal put up 23 goals and 43 points in 49 games in the SweHL, netting 25 goals in 44 games in SM-liiga a year prior. He suited up for the Moose Jaw Warriors and Kamloops Blazers in his junior years before beginning his pro career in the KHL.