Thursday’s AHL schedule only featured one game, but a trade and a shifting health picture in the Central Division still made for an eventful day.

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Springfield Thunderbirds, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Get Roster Shake-ups

A pair of forwards were on the move Thursday in a trade between the Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues.

Pittsburgh acquired Mathias Laferriere and sent Corey Andonovski to the Blues in the deal.

The 25-year-old Andonovski was in his third full pro season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and had 3-2-5 in 15 games. He had signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent in March 2022 following three seasons at Princeton University. Laferriere, 24, had 2-8-10 in 33 games for the Thunderbirds. A 2018 sixth-round pick by the Blues, he was in his fourth season with the Thunderbirds.

Laferriere will report to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton just in time for a three-in-three weekend that opens at home Friday against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Andonovski is Springfield-bound and could make his Thunderbirds debut on Saturday at Rockford.

Rockford IceHogs

It was a good-news-bad-news day for the IceHogs, who have been in an extended slide that has left them unable to pull away from the Iowa Wild in the Central Division playoff race.

With one win in their past nine games (1-6-2-0), Rockford remains above the Central Division playoff line, seven points ahead of the Wild even though Iowa has been in its own ongoing slump. Each team has 27 games to go in the regular season.

Thursday the IceHogs announced that forward Gerry Mayhew (left hip adductor strain) has been cleared to play. Mayhew, who signed an AHL deal with Rockford on Oct. 27, has been a useful addition, particularly with several roster losses created by recalls to the Chicago Blackhawks. Mayhew, the AHL’s most valuable player in 2019-20 when he had 39-22-61 in 49 games for Iowa, had 9-9-18 in 31 games with Rockford. He has only played one game since Jan. 12.

With three games in four nights beginning Friday against the Chicago Wolves, Mayhew’s return comes at an opportune time for the IceHogs, who are just 26th in the AHL with 2.80 goals per game. The third game of that stretch is Monday at Iowa and begins a home-and-home match-up with the Wild.

However, the IceHogs also announced that goaltender Drew Commesso (right ankle sprain) and forward Colton Dach (right hip flexor strain) are out of the line-up. Commesso, who exited last Saturday’s loss at Texas, is expected to miss 7-14 days while Dach’s absence is an anticipated 7-10 days.

Dach had just returned from an extended recall with the Blackhawks, where he went 1-3-4 in 13 games. In 32 games for Rockford, he has 12-14-26. Commesso has played 23 games with Rockford and is 8-12-2 | 2.95 | .896 in a tandem with Mitchell Weeks.

Calgary Wranglers

Pending approval, the Calgary Wranglers said Thursday interim head coach Joe Cirella could be behind the bench this long weekend when they host the Ontario Reign for a pair of games.

Cirella had eye surgery Jan. 31, and assistant coach Brett Sutter stepped in as his replacement. Cirella had originally taken over Dec. 22 when head coach Trent Cull moved up to the Calgary Flames to serve as an interim assistant coach with Brad Larsen away on an indefinite leave of absence. Sutter, who retired last July following 17 pro seasons, led the Wranglers for a pair of two-game visits to Abbotsford and Henderson as well as taking Cirella’s place at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic.

The Wranglers (29-15-2-1) face Ontario Saturday afternoon in the FloHockey AHL Game of the Week (4:00 p.m. ET) before a rematch next Monday afternoon. They have three games in a row, including a regulation and shootout loss last weekend at Henderson, but their 61 points top the Western Conference.

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