Monsters announce trio of roster moves

Apr 27, 2021

The AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, top affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, announced Tuesday that the Blue Jackets assigned forward Cliff Pu to Cleveland, recalled forward Liam Foudy from the Monsters, and reassigned goaltender Daniil Tarasov to the Taxi Squad. In eight appearances for Cleveland this season, Pu tallied 0-4-4 with two penalty minutes and an even rating while Foudy posted 0-3-3 with six penalty minutes and a +1 rating in 18 appearances for the Blue Jackets and added 3-13-16 with a +7 rating in 11 appearances for Cleveland this year. Tarasov went 3-1-0 with a 3.23 goals-against average (GAA) and a .883 save percentage (S%) in four appearances for the Monsters this season.

 

A 6’2”, 192 lb. right-shooting native of North York, ON, Pu, 22, contributed 2-12-14 with 16 penalty minutes and a +2 rating in 71 career AHL appearances for the Charlotte Checkers, Springfield Thunderbirds, and the Monsters spanning parts of three seasons from 2018-21. Originally selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the third round (69th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Pu supplied 3-8-11 with two penalty minutes and a +4 rating in nine career ECHL appearances for the Florida Everblades and Greenville Swamp Rabbits spanning parts of two seasons from 2018-20.

 

Prior to his professional career, Pu notched 80-130-210 with 92 penalty minutes and a +53 rating in 232 appearances for the Oshawa Generals, London Knights, and Kingston Frontenacs spanning four seasons from 2014-18. In 2016, Pu helped the London Knights claim the OHL and Memorial Cup Championships and was named to the OHL’s Third All-Star Team the following season.

 

A 6’1”, 181 lb. left-shooting native of Toronto, ON, Foudy, 21, was originally selected by Columbus in the first round (18th overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and supplied 0-4-4 with six penalty minutes and a +2 rating in 20 career NHL appearances, all for the Blue Jackets, spanning parts of two seasons from 2019-21, adding 1-1-2 with a -1 rating in ten Stanley Cup Playoff appearances for Columbus in 2020. Foudy also contributed 2-0-2 with two penalty minutes and a +3 rating in eight appearances for the Monsters during the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs, his only other prior professional experience.

 

In the junior ranks, Foudy logged 97-94-191 with 97 penalty minutes and a +79 rating in 230 career OHL appearances for the London Knights spanning parts of four seasons from 2016-20, wearing the captain’s “C” for the Knights in 2019-20. Internationally, Foudy helped Team Canada claim Gold Medal honors at the 2020 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship.

 

Originally selected by Columbus in the third round (86th overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Tarasov went 11-3-2 with two shutouts, a 2.07 goals-against average (GAA), and a .925 save percentage (S%) in 16 KHL appearances for Salavat Yulaev Ufa this season. A 6’5”, 185 lb. left-catching native of Novokuznetsk, Russia, Tarasov, 22, supplied a record of 11-4-3 with two shutouts, a 2.13 GAA and a .899 S% in 18 career KHL appearances spanning parts of two seasons from 2018-19 and 2020-21 and went 11-17-9 with one shutout, a 2.72 GAA and a .899 S% in 41 Liiga appearances for Ässät during the 2019-20 campaign. Tarasov also helped Russia claim Bronze Medal honors at the 2019 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship.