AHL playoff roster churn intensifies as NHL clubs keep recalling players

Henderson’s playoff push took the hardest hit, and it came fast. Between May 12 and May 14, the Silver Knights lost Braeden Bowman, Jaycob Megna, Jeremy Davies, Tanner Laczynski, Raphael Lavoie, Jonas Røndbjerg and Kai Uchacz to Vegas recalls, a wave of movement that stripped away veterans, special teams pieces and the kind of depth that usually keeps a series from slipping. That mattered immediately against Colorado, which had already carved out a 4-0 shutout after opening the series with a 1-0 loss, and it mattered even more because Henderson had to skate without defenseman Dylan Coghlan for the previous two games and also missed Matyas Sapovaliv in Game 3. This was the same Henderson club that led the AHL in regular-season scoring at 3.65 goals per game and finished first on the power play at 26.0 percent. Right now, that offense looks a long way from those numbers.

Cleveland’s roster also changed at a time when the stakes could not be higher. The Monsters added goalie Nolan Lalonde on May 16 after Columbus reassigned him from Toledo, giving Cleveland another option in a playoff run that has already demanded every ounce of patience. Lalonde is under a three-year NHL entry-level contract with Columbus that runs through 2026-27, so this is not just a one-night patch job. Cleveland had already gone more than a week between games after surviving Syracuse in a 2-1 triple-overtime win on May 3, then opened the North Division final by splitting the first two games with Toronto. The Marlies had beaten Laval 3-2 in a decisive Game 5 on May 9, then watched Cleveland even the series with a 3-1 win on May 16.

Toronto’s own roster has not been static either. Ben Danford was reassigned from Brantford on May 11, and Hayes Hundley was released from a PTO the same day, with Danford already listed on the Marlies’ 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs roster alongside Easton Cowan and other young pieces trying to hold up under real spring pressure. That youth group has already helped Toronto clear Laval after trailing 2-1 in the series, but the Cleveland matchup is different. It is faster, tighter and now under even more strain because both teams are still adjusting on the fly.

The churn does not stop there. Colorado returned goaltender Isak Posch on loan from the Avalanche on May 14 after repeatedly moving him back and forth in late April and early May, and Grand Rapids released Eddie Genborg from an ATO on May 17 as the Griffins moved deeper into the Central Division bracket after finishing Manitoba on May 8 and dropping Game 1 to Chicago 2-1 on May 14. Coachella Valley has been pulled into the same current, adding Zach Uens, bringing Jack Ahcan down from Colorado, sending Jakov Novak back to Kansas City and losing Will Reynolds from an ATO. In the Calder Cup Playoffs, the lineup you start with is rarely the lineup you finish with.