Maine Hockey Journal

McKenna recalled by Panthers as trade deadline passes

Portland Pirates regular season contest against the Springfield Falcons at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine on 2/28/2016. (PHOTO: Michael McSweeney/Portland Pirates)

Portland Pirates regular season contest against the Springfield Falcons at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine on 2/28/2016. (PHOTO: Michael McSweeney/Portland Pirates)

The Florida Panthers laid most of the groundwork for their Stanley Cup playoff run with the acquisition of three new players on Saturday, leaving Monday’s NHL trade deadline for just some final housekeeping and preparing their AHL affiliate, Portland Pirates, for a run at the Calder Cup playoffs.

The Panthers recalled goaltender Mike McKenna from the Pirates on an emergency basis while forward Greg McKegg and defenseman Michael Matheson were returned to the Pirates.

McKenna’s recall from the Pirates was prompted after Al Montoya was injured Sunday afternoon in Minnesota and had to leave the game with an upper-body injury. Panthers GM Dale Tallon told the media that Montoya suffered a slight neck strain and could return Thursday when Panthers play in Colorado.

McKenna, who has appeared in 40 games for the Pirates this season and has posted a 25-11-2 record with a 2.30 GAA and a .922 save percentage along with two shutouts on the season, met the Panthers in Winnipeg on Monday. He’s expected to backup Roberto Luongo Tuesday’s game versus the Winnipeg Jets, and could be back in Portland for Friday’s game against the Syracuse Crunch.

The 32-year-old veteran goalie recently recorded his 76th win in a Pirates uniform and is just three wins away from becoming the all-time leader for franchise victories, a record currently held by Martin Brochu.

To fill McKenna’s spot on the roster Colin Stevens was summoned from the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL. This is Stevens’ second recall to the AHL this season. He was the backup goaltender for Sam Brittain against the Rochester Americans and Toronto Marlies when McKenna left to be with wife for the birth of the family’s second child.

In 26 games with the Monarchs, he’s 15-5-1 with a 2.39 GAA, a .920 save percentage, and two shutouts.

In addition to Stevens, the Pirates lineup will receive a boost as Greg McKegg and Mike Matheson are expected to be available this weekend’s three-in-three beginning with Friday’s game at the Cross Insurance Arena against the Syracuse Crunch.

McKegg returns to the Pirates after playing six games with the Panthers. In 41 games with the Pirates, McKegg, who was recalled to Florida on Feb. 14, tallied nine goals, 12 assists for 21 points.

Matheson was recalled to the NHL for the first time by Florida on February 19. He made his NHL debut the following day at home for the Panthers against the Winnipeg Jets. The rookie defenseman appeared in two games during his stay with the Panthers.

Matheson has five goals, nine assists for 14 points in 43 games with the Pirates this season. He also has a team-lead plus-14 rating.

Besides McKegg and Matheson joining the Pirates, the Panthers also assigned Kyle Rau and Logan Shaw to the Pirates for the purpose of making them eligible to play in the American Hockey League at some point this season and into the playoffs.

Rau, who was recalled on Feb. 19 and made his debut with the Panthers on Feb. 20 against Winnipeg, has a 17 goals on the season for the Pirates, which is tied with Rob Schremp for the team lead in goal scoring.

Shaw has largely spent a portion of the season with the Panthers, scoring five goals, two assists for seven points in 41 games. Shaw began the season with the Pirates where he tallied seven goals, one assist for eight points in 13 games.

Pirates GM Eric Joyce said that Rau played well and will remain with the Panthers for the time being while Shaw will stay with the Panthers until they’re done playing for the season. Should the Panthers season come to end before the Pirates are finished playing, Joyce said they would evaluate Shaw’s status before deciding on whether to assign him to Portland.

“Rau and Bjugstad have been good together the last few games. He’s playing well at the moment and (Panthers GM) Dale (Tallon) is happy with him. We’ll see how that plays out.”

Garrett Wilson was not ‘papered’ by the 3:00 pm deadline for the purpose of playing in the AHL this season. Wilson had seven goals, 13 assists for 20 points in 37 games with the Pirates. Wilson was recalled on Feb. 9 and has appeared in 15 games with the Panthers this season, which made him waiver-eligible and according to Joyce, there was real concern that he would have been claimed by either Edmonton or Colorado.

“We’re ecstatic for him. (Panthers coach) Gerrard (Gallant) loves him as a player, loves him on the fourth line. He brings some weight and grit to the fourth line,” said Joyce.

On Saturday, the Panthers acquired former UMaine forward Teddy Purcell from the Edmonton Oilers, forward Jiri Hudler from the Calgary Flames and defenseman Jakub Kindl from the Detroit Red Wings.

The moves instantly strengthen the Panthers, who currently lead the NHL’s Atlantic Division, but it also provides a lift to the Pirates. In all three trades on Saturday, the only cost to the Panthers were draft picks, keeping intact both the roster for the Panthers and the roster in Portland.

Joyce said that he listened to several AHL deals, but in the end, he likes the team as it’s constructed. The lone trade made by the Panthers at the deadline was sending Brandon Pirri to the Anaheim Ducks for a 6th round draft pick in 2016.

“I like our team in Portland,” Joyce said. “I told (Pirates head coach) Scotty Allen you only get to be the team that we have one time in your life. Those are going to be guys today that are on this team because next year it’s going to be different. I wanted to give our guys that have battled hard for us up till this point the best opportunity to compete and win in Portland together.”

“I wasn’t going to trade minor league contract for a minor league contract. I wasn’t going to break up the chemistry of the group for a deal that would have been a lateral move.”

The AHL trade deadline is March 7 at 3:00 pm for teams to move AHL contracts as well as loan players on two-way contracts playing in the AHL.

Joyce said that he could still make a move by the AHL deadline. He will listen to offers, but they would have to better than what he heard during Monday’s deadline.

NOTES: Rob Flick could return to the Pirates this weekend. Flick has been out of the lineup since Feb. 19 with an upper-body injury. Joyce said that Flick’s return to the Pirates’ lineup will be more about his pain tolerance saying that his injury is considered a painful injury…. Shane Harper is still at least two weeks away from returning to the lineup after sustaining a lower-body injury back on Jan. 27 at home against St. John’s. Harper has missed the last 13 games for the Pirates.

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