The Golden Knights announced they’ve recalled goaltender Carl Lindbom and defenseman Jaycob Megna from AHL Henderson. They only had one open roster spot, and they created another by moving defenseman Noah Hanifin to injured reserve, per Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. With insufficient cap space, there’s another corresponding transaction still to come.
That move will likely be an IR/LTIR shift or placement. Right now, Mark Stone is on standard injured reserve and is week-to-week with a wrist injury. If they expect him to miss at least 10 games and 24 days, they can transfer him to LTIR, retroactive to Oct. 18, and increase their LTIR pool by roughly $3.5MM, given their current cap space ($310,275, per PuckPedia).
Lindbom’s recall indicates they expect Adin Hill to miss some time after he departed Monday’s game against the Hurricanes in the first period. It’s an apparent lower-body injury for Hill, who reacted awkwardly after flashing his left leg to make a save (video via B/R Open Ice). It was the second time in under a week that he’d left a start early due to injury. A retroactive IR placement would rule him out of Vegas’ next two games and make him eligible for activation on Oct. 28.
In the meantime, Lindbom gets the call from Henderson to man the Knights’ crease with Akira Schmid. While Carter Hart is with the team on a tryout, he’s ineligible to play until Dec. 1 as a result of his suspension following a not-guilty verdict in connection with a sexual assault charge. Until he’s a factor, Lindbom is an intriguing call-up option. The 22-year-old was a seventh-round pick back in 2021 but has quickly seen his stock rise following some standout performances in Sweden’s top two pro leagues. He arrived in North America last season and spent the year exclusively with Henderson, recording a .912 SV% and 2.65 GAA in 36 appearances. This year, he’s off to a pristine start with a 1.00 GAA and .958 SV% in two showings for the Silver Knights.
Any playing time would mean his NHL debut. While Schmid is undefeated in his four appearances, he doesn’t have overly inspiring numbers with a .899 SV% and 2.57 GAA. He hasn’t been a significant drag by any stretch, but has still allowed 0.6 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck. With him and Hill both posting tepid numbers out of the gate, it would make sense to give one of their top prospects a look, but amid a tough road trip through Florida and Carolina, they may be hesitant to do so.
Megna arrives to give the Knights an extra defenseman on hand for their road trip. They were only rostering six healthy ones without Hanifin, who hasn’t played since the season opener because of an undisclosed injury. Since he’s already missed more than a week, he’s eligible for activation at any time.
The 33-year-old Megna signed a two-year, $1.6MM deal with Vegas in the offseason and cleared waivers a few weeks back on his way to Henderson. The veteran of 193 NHL games has an assist, six penalty minutes, and a plus-two rating through his first four appearances with the minor-league club. With No. 7 Ben Hutton playing well since being inserted into the lineup for Hanifin, it’s unlikely Megna will see action unless another injury pops up. Hutton has two assists and a plus-three rating through six games while averaging 15:54 of ice time per night.