Metropolitan Notes: Penguins, Hughes, Ersson, Svechnikov

With Jan Rutta and Jeff Petry both leaving Tuesday’s game against Montreal with undisclosed injuries, the Penguins were forced to finish that contest with four blueliners.  As Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette points out, they might not be able to dress six for Thursday’s contest against the Rangers.  Even with Dmitry Kulikov going on LTIR earlier today, that still only opens up enough cap space for one recall with Anaheim holding back half of Kulikov’s cap hit.  That means that Pittsburgh could bring up Mark Friedman or Taylor Fedun from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Ty Smith is injured) but they would still have to play short a blueliner for a game before becoming eligible for a cap-exempt emergency recall.  Of course, if one of Rutta or Petry can suit up against New York, they’ll be able to ice a full lineup.

More from the Metropolitan:

• Rangers prospect Riley Hughes has entered the NCAA transfer portal, Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal reports (Twitter link). The 22-year-old was a seventh-round pick by New York back in 2018 (216th overall) but hasn’t been particularly productive over four years at Northeastern.  This season, Hughes had just two goals and four assists in 32 games, numbers that weren’t going to help him earn an entry-level deal this summer.  He’s eligible for one more bonus year of eligibility and that season will now be played elsewhere.
• The Flyers have assigned Samuel Ersson back to AHL Lehigh Valley, interim GM Daniel Briere told reporters including Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now (Twitter link). The 23-year-old was recalled yesterday with Carter Hart being out due to illness but it appears that Hart will be ready for their next game on Friday against Buffalo.  Ersson has played in 13 games with Philadelphia this season, posting a 3.07 GAA and a .898 SV%.
• As expected, the Hurricanes have placed winger Andrei Svechnikov on LTIR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The 22-year-old is out for the season is set to undergo season-ending knee surgery on Thursday.  The placement adds Svechnikov’s $7.75MM AAV to Carolina’s LTIR pool, one that went into the day with less than $850K in space, or enough for one AHL recall.  With Svechnikov on LTIR, affording recalls shouldn’t be an issue for them for the rest of the season.