NHL roundup: Leafs' Ashton suspended 20 games

[November 07, 2014]  The NHL suspended Toronto Maple Leafs forward Carter Ashton for 20 games, without pay, for violating the terms of the league's Performance Enhancing Substances Program, the league announced Thursday.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the suspension is accompanied by mandatory referral to the NHL/NHLPA Program for Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health for evaluation and possible treatment.

Based on his average annual salary, Ashton will forfeit $169,185.

Ashton has played in three games for the Leafs this season and has no goals and no assists. In 50 career NHL games, Ashton has no goals and three assists.

---The St. Louis Blues activated forward Paul Stastny from injured reserve, and he was scheduled to be on the lineup for Thursday's game against the New Jersey Devils.

Stastny missed the past eight games with an upper-body injury.

---The Columbus Blue Jackets activated defenseman James Wisniewski from the Injured Reserve list and placed defenseman Ryan Murray on Injured Reserve retroactive to November 1, the team announced.

Wisniewski, 30, missed the past three games due to a broken finger. Murray is listed as day-to-day after re-aggravating a knee injury that caused him to miss the first seven games of the season.

---The San Jose Sharks activated forward Tyler Kennedy, the team announced.

Kennedy was sidelined with an upper-body injury before being assigned to Worcester of the AHL on a conditioning stint on Oct. 27.

The Sharks also reassigned forward Chris Tierney to the Worcester.

---Philadelphia Flyers left wing Michael Raffl is expected to miss six weeks with a lower-body injury. Chris VandeVelde replaced him on the top line.

---Boston Bruins president Cam Neely, speaking on his weekly radio spot on 98.5, the Sports Hub, revealed that coach Claude Julien was in the final year of his contract when he got his extension - reportedly for three years -- this week.

--- Bruins center David Krejci returned after missing two games with what was reported as a hip injury.

---The Chicago Blackhawks recalled forward Peter Regin from the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League, the team announced.

The addition of Regin comes after an injury to forward Patrick Sharp, who is expected to be sidelined four weeks, according to CSN Chicago.

---The Detroit Red Wings recalled goaltender Petr Mrazek from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins, the team announced.

Mrazek, 22, has appeared in 11 career NHL games since 2012-13. He has a 3-5-0 record, a 1.80 goals-against average, a 0.926 save percentage and two shutouts in those 11 games.

--- New York Rangers forward Chris Mueller was assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League, the Rangers announced.

---The Montreal Canadiens assigned defenseman Jarred Tinordi to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL.

Tinordi has two assists and seven penalty minutes in nine games with Montreal this season.

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