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Archives for October 2019

Minor Transactions: 10/27/19

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The Heritage Classic was a snowy affair that ended in an overtime win for the Jets over the Flames, while the Stanley Cup re-match was an unexpectedly lopsided shutout for the Bruins over the Blues. Both Boston and St. Louis are back in action for an unusually busy Sunday this early in the NHL season. The six-game slate begins at 2:00pm local time in Edmonton, as the Oilers host the visiting Panthers, and ends later tonight with the Ducks facing the Golden Knights in a battle of 7-5 Pacific Division rivals. As a dozen teams stay occupied with action throughout the day, follow along with the moves made in anticipation of and response to those contests, as well as other clubs preparing for the week ahead:

  • After demoting him just yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres have announced that defenseman Will Borgen has been promoted. This was likely a matter of ice time for Borgen, given how quickly the 22-year-old rearguard was reassigned and then recalled after last night’s games. Borgen has yet to play in the NHL this season and was passed over again Friday night, as John Gilmour made his season debut on the Buffalo blue line. Instead, Borgen returned to Rochester and suited up for the Americans. Borgen has also been held without a point in eight AHL games, so the Sabres need to find a way to jump-start the St. Cloud State product’s season.
  • A familiar name is back in action, as the AHL’s Belleville Senators have signed defenseman Frank Corrado to a professional tryout offer. Corrado, 26, has played in 76 NHL games over his six-year pro career with the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Pittsburgh Penguins. However, he has not played in a game at the top level since 2017-18, spending all of last season with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Unsuccessful in landing a two-way contract in the off-season, Corrado now seems determined to simply prove that he still has value in North America on a PTO with Belleville. Frequently the “next man up” in his pro career, Corrado failed to ever fully take advantage of his NHL opportunities, but remains and experienced and capable depth option. He could prove himself to the Senators organization and land a contract before too long.
  • After beginning the season on the injured reserve, Anaheim Ducks prospect keeper Angus Redmond is finally healthy and has been loaned to the ECHL’s Allen Americans. This is a big year for Redmond, who is in the final season of his entry-level contract. The 24-year-old gave up on his NCAA career after just one stellar season at Michigan Tech by signing with the Ducks, but has largely failed to impress in the two years since. It has not been any help that Anaheim does not have an ECHL affiliate, meaning Redmond has bounced around the ECHL in his pro career, with Allen being his sixth different team. Redmond would like some consistency, which could come with a promotion to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, and is in luck as Anthony Stolarz and Kevin Boyle are both off to a rocky start. However, he’ll first have to prove he is healthy and at the top of his game at the “AA” level. If Redmond cannot earn some AHL starts this year, and perform well in those appearances, this could very well be his final season on an NHL contract.
  • The Minnesota Wild announced they have returned goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen to the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Kahkonen was recalled on an emergency basis on Wednesday, but never made an appearance in the game and any hope for his NHL debut will have to wait. Kahkonen has struggled in four game with the Iowa Wild despite posting four wins. He also has a .886 save percentage in those games as well.
  • The Ottawa Senators announced they have recalled Filip Chlapik from the Belleville Senators of the AHL. The 22-year-old has already appeared in one game for Ottawa this season as he has one assist in that game. The former second-round pick in 2015, Chlapik has shown potential, but hasn’t been able to do that in the NHL. He scored 16 goals and 18 assists last year in 57 games with Belleville and has one goal in six games this season so far.
  • One day after being recalled by the Nashville Predators, the team announced they have assigned forward Anthony Richard to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. Richard did get a chance to play in his first NHL game of the season Saturday, but only played 4:10, although he got two shots off in that time. Richard has played seven games in Milwaukee and has a goal and an assist.
  • The Vancouver Canucks announced they have recalled center Adam Gaudette from the Utica Comets of the AHL. Gaudette surprised several when he made the team out of training camp after an impressive preseason. However, he rarely played, appearing in just three games and tallying one assist. He was assigned to Utica Thursday, but scored a goal Saturday night for the Comets. Gaudette played 56 games for Vancouver last season.

Pacific Notes: Dillon, Schmidt, Subban, Gudbranson

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Many in Toronto, after watching a San Jose Sharks’ hit against Auston Matthews Friday night, felt that the Sharks’ Brenden Dillon deserved to have the hit looked at by the Department of Player Safety. However, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that Dillon won’t face any supplemental discipline for the hit as the belief is that the head was not the main point of contact.

Dillon hit Matthews at 11:30 in the second period of Friday’s game just as Matthews was entering the Sharks’ offensive zone as Dillon’s hands appeared to go high on the Maple Leafs’ forward. There was no penalty on the play. Matthews left the game and underwent concussion protocol. However, he did return in the third period.

  • After a embarrassing performance against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, the Vegas Golden Knights got a hint at the potential return of one of their top players as Vegas’ head coach Gerard Gallant said that defenseman Nate Schmidt could be close to a return. “I’d love to have him in my lineup, trust me, and he’s going to be there soon,” said Gallant, via Ken Boehlke of Sinbin.vegas. Schmidt suffered a lower-body injury on the first game of the season and has been out ever since. However, he has resumed skating. Considered to be the team’s top defenseman, the team is eager to get him back into their lineup.
  • David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes that the Vegas Golden Knights could be getting back goaltender Malcolm Subban soon. The backup goaltender suffered a lower-body injury and has missed eight straight games. However, the scribe reports that his equipment was seen in front of his locker, which would suggest he’s ready to skate and could return to the lineup soon. Garrett Sparks is currently the backup for Vegas.
  • After attempting to add both Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Faulk earlier this year, the Anaheim Ducks finally were able to trade for a veteran defenseman Friday when they acquired blueliner Erik Gudbranson. In fact, the Ducks had been interested in acquiring him for quite a while, according to Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required). “This is something we have been looking at for some time. We haven’t been tough enough to play against and hopefully Erik can help us address part of that need,” general manager Bob Murray said.

Penguins Activate Bryan Rust, Nick Bjugstad

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced several moves today, which included activating several of their players off of  injured reserve. The team announced they activated forwards Nick Bjugstad and Bryan Rust (who was on long-term injured reserve) and both are expected to play in today’s lineup against Dallas.

The Penguins also changed the status of several players as Sam Lafferty, Adam Johnson and Joseph Blandisi all had their emergency recalls altered to regular recalls.

Rust has missed the entire season after blocking a shot in the preseason with his hand. The 27-year-old winger has also been a major missing piece in the Penguins’ lineup which also is missing Evgeni Malkin. The hope is that Rust can immediately supply the top-six with a prominent winger and add some offense to a suddenly struggling Pittsburgh squad. Rust scored a career-high 18 goals last season.

Bjugstad hasn’t appeared in a game since Oct. 5 after going down with a lower-body injury and should be a big addition to a team in need of some healthy veterans. The 27-year-old center has only appeared in two games this season, but scored nine goals and 13 points as a bottom-six center for the team in 32 games after the Penguins acquired him from Florida in February earlier this year.

Florida Panthers Acquire Jack Rodewald From Ottawa

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The Florida Panthers have acquired more depth for their team as the team announced they have traded for forward Jack Rodewald from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for the rights to collegiate winger Chris Wilkie. The Panthers have assigned Rodewald to the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL.

The 25-year-old Rodewald has spent the last three years in the AHL after a year in the ECHL, but while he lacks the upside of a top NHL prospect, has proven to be a reliable depth player for the Senators over the years and a solid option at the AHL level as well. The undrafted forward scored 23 goals and 47 points last season for the Belleville Senators, but has gone scoreless in six games for Belleville this season. He has made 10 NHL appearances over his career, but has failed to register a point in any of them.

For Ottawa, the move makes quite a bit of sense. The Belleville squad, laden with a bunch of young prospects, needed to make room on their roster to get more playing time for some of their players. The move of Rodewald should free up more time for several prospects, including Jonathan Davidsson, Max Veronneau and Vitaly Abramov. Rodewald will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

In exchange for Rodewald, the team acquired the rights to Wilkie, who is in his fourth year of college after spending two years at the University of North Dakota and now is in his second year at Colorado College. In 20 games for the Tigers last season, Wilkie scored six goals and 19 points and seems headed for an even bigger season this year as he already has three goals and six points in three games. A sixth-round pick in 2015, Wilkie may opt to sign a deal once his collegiate season is over this year, but he could also wait until August and become a free agent where he can choose any team to sign with that he wants, assuming there is interest.

What the move also does is free up a contract for the Senators who had 49 contracts before this trade. With Wilkie unsigned, the Senators’ contract number will drop to 48, giving the team a little more maneuverability to make trade or sign players later this season.

 

 

Atlantic Notes: Mete, Trocheck, Krejci, Miller

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The Montreal Canadiens don’t have a lot on their plate this offseason when it comes to their own free agents. However, that isn’t stopping the franchise from trying to sign defenseman Victor Mete, who is playing in the final year of his entry-level contract. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Canadiens have already begun negotiations with the 21-year-old.

Mete surprised a few people several years ago when he made the roster out of training camp at 19 years old and his fast skating and defensive-first abilities might complement veteran Shea Weber. However, Weber got injured and Mete struggled, playing 49 games, but was often scratched due to the fact that he wasn’t ready. He settled in last season, playing 71 games and has been a solid defensive presence since then. Mete finally scored his first NHL goal last week after going scoreless in 126 straight games.

The Canadiens’ only other significant off-season contract that it will need to deal with other than Mete’s will be that of Max Domi, who will also be a restricted free agent next summer.

  • NHL.com’s Jameson Olive reports that Florida Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck, who hasn’t played since Oct. 19 with an lower-body injury, was practicing with the team today in a yellow non-contact jersey. Trocheck who has a foot/ankle injury is travelling with the team and is listed as day-to-day. After a down season last year while dealing with a broken ankle, the team needs Trocheck to put up a big season. The 26-year-old has a goal and five assists in eight games.
  • NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty writes that Boston Bruins center David Krejci, who is out with an upper-body injury, is expected to miss both games this weekend. However, the scribe adds that Krejci is close and should be able to return at some point next week with a likely date of Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks, although head coach Bruce Cassidy said a decision on that won’t be made until Monday. Haggerty also writes that defenseman Kevan Miller should be ready to practice at some point next week. Miller has been out with a fractured kneecap.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Sixth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended.  For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)
7th Overall: Ryan McDonagh, Columbus Blue Jackets (12)
8th Overall: James van Riemsdyk, Boston Bruins (2)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)
11th Overall: Jake Muzzin, Carolina Hurricanes (141)
12th Overall: Kyle Turris, Montreal Canadiens (3)
13th Overall: David Perron, St. Louis Blues (26)
14th Overall: Mikael Backlund, Colorado Avalanche (24)
15th Overall: Evgenii Dadonov, Edmonton Oilers (71)
16th Overall: Alec Martinez, Minnesota Wild (95)
17th Overall: Carl Hagelin, New York Rangers (168)
18th Overall: Lars Eller, St. Louis Blues (13)
19th Overall: Alex Killorn, Anaheim Ducks (77)
20th Overall: Nick Bonino, Pittsburgh Penguins (173)
21st Overall: Pat Maroon, Edmonton Oilers (161)
22nd Overall: Paul Byron, Montreal Canadiens (179)
23rd Overall: Sam Gagner, Nashville Predators (6)
24th Overall: Justin Braun, Calgary Flames (201)
25th Overall: Ian Cole, Vancouver Canucks (18)

While Cole ultimately slips from his initial draft position, he only dropped seven spots overall and winds up with a Vancouver team that has needed a stable blueliner like him for quite some time.

While he wasn’t a big point producer with the US National Team Development Program which St. Louis drafted him out of, Cole was reasonably productive offensively at Notre Dame over his three years there.  That helped convince the Blues to sign him with a year of eligibility remaining and he played in at least 15 games in each of his three entry-level years.

Despite seeing as much early NHL action as he did, Cole never really emerged as a key piece with St. Louis.  Instead, he was limited to a lower-end role and eventually, they decided to try someone else in that spot instead and sent him to Pittsburgh for blueliner Robert Bortuzzo and a seventh-round pick.

With the Penguins, he was quickly given more ice time and slowly but surely played his way into a top-four spot while winning a pair of Stanley Cup titles in his first two seasons with the team.  However, with GM Jim Rutherford needing to clear out money to bring in Derick Brassard in 2018, Cole became the cap casualty as he was sent to Ottawa and then flipped to Columbus just three days later.  His stay with the Blue Jackets was also short-lived as he finished out the season and hit the open market.

Despite bouncing around as much as he did, Cole had a fairly robust free agent market in 2018 and used that to land a three-year, $12.75MM deal with Colorado.  His $4.25MM AAV more than doubled that of his previous contract.  The 30-year-old is in his second season with the Avs and has been a dependable stay-at-home player on their back end.

All in all, Cole has been a fairly good selection from this class and currently sits 26th in games played out of that group, a ranking that should improve over the next few seasons.  While he’s not a flashy player, he has carved out a serviceable role for himself and should be able to land another multi-year deal in the 2021 summer.

Now, let’s turn the focus back to St. Louis who had the 26th selection as their third and final pick of the first round.  After scooping up Eller (13) and Cole (18) with their first two picks, they went with a riskier pick in David Perron, a second-year eligible player who had all of one major junior season under his belt.  The risk proved out to be quite beneficial as Perron sits fifth overall in scoring from this draft class, a great return for someone selected at the bottom of the first round.

Perron isn’t available now as he went 13th in our redraft so they will need to select someone else.  With the 26th selection of the draft, who should the Blues select?  Make your selection below.

[Mobile users click here to vote]

*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

Blackhawks Shopping Zack Smith

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Zack Smith’s tenure in Chicago has been rather short thus far as he’s only in his first season with the Blackhawks after being acquired for Artem Anisimov over the summer.  However, it appears that they’ve seen enough from him already as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Chicago is shopping the center around the league.

The 31-year-old has played in just five of Chicago’s eight games so far this season and was scratched for the other three.  When he has played, his role has been rather limited as Smith has averaged just 9:52 per night, well below his career average of 14:56.

Smith is signed through 2020-21 with a cap hit of $3.25MM.  Considering the price tag and term relative to his limited role, it’s hard to imagine that there will be a long list of suitors; it’s worth noting that Smith cleared waivers outright last season.  As a result, it’s likely that Chicago would have to retain on the contract to find a taker, take another not very good contract back, or both in order to facilitate a trade.

Smith joins Brendan Perlini as players that are known to be available from the Blackhawks in the early going of the season.  While neither player has made much of an impact, it seems as if GM Stan Bowman is open to shaking up the bottom end of his roster with the team off to a quiet 2-4-2 start in 2019-20.

Minimal Talks Between Nashville And Their Pending UFAs

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The Predators presently have nine players on their active roster that are slated to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.  Three of those players – defenseman Roman Josi plus wingers Mikael Granlund and Craig Smith – are impact pieces for Nashville but as Craig Custance of The Athletic reports (subscription required), talks about extensions have been limited thus far.

Understandably, their primary focus is getting a deal done with Josi, their captain.  He’s currently playing on one of the best bargain contracts in the league with a $4MM cap charge which is well under market value for someone that has recorded at least 40 points and averaged more than 24 minutes per night over each of the last six seasons.  He’s off to a flying start in 2019-20 as well with 10 points in as many games while once again logging more than 24 minutes of ice time per contest.  While the 29-year-old has suggested in the past that he’s open to taking a bit of a discount to stay with the Predators, he should still at least be doubling his current AAV on a new deal.  There was some discussion going back to the offseason but it doesn’t seem as if a lot of progress was made.

Granlund is in his first full season with Nashville and that in itself is stalling contract talks as both sides are still evaluating the fit.  He wasn’t overly productive after being acquired from Minnesota at the deadline last season (just two goals and five assists in 23 games between the regular season and playoffs) and is off to a slow start this season as well with two goals and two helpers in ten games.  However, he isn’t far removed from back-to-back 67-plus point seasons in 2016-17 and 2017-18 and his ability to play center (despite being used predominantly on the wing with the Predators) makes him one of the more prominent forwards that will be available.  Custance suggests that if the team can find a way to get out of Kyle Turris’ contract ($6MM through 2023-24), that might help get talks for Granlund, who carries a $5.75MM AAV, going.

As for Smith, his performance over the years has been a bit more erratic.  There are times where he looks like a legitimate top liner but others where he has produced at the level of a third liner.  He’s not off to a great start this season either with just a goal and an assist.  Nonetheless, with five seasons of 20 goals or more under his belt, he should be in line for a raise on his current $4.25MM cap hit.  Custance mentions that Smith loves it in Nashville and would likely be willing to sign for under market value to stay there but at this time, both sides appear to be okay with letting the season play out and evaluate things at the end of the season.

Other pending unrestricted free agents in Nashville include wingers Auston Watson, Miikka Salomaki, and Rocco Grimaldi as well as blueliners Dan Hamhuis, Matt Irwin, and Yannick Weber.  With that many players needing new contracts, GM David Poile will certainly have his work cut out for him over the coming months.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Zach Trotman Clears Waivers

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Saturday: Trotman has cleared waivers, Friedman reports.  That paves the way for him to be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.

Friday: The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed Zach Trotman on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. That suggests the defenseman is healthy enough to return to action after starting the year on season-opening injured reserve.

Trotman, 29, was actually re-signed by the Penguins earlier this year to a two-year contract after serving as injury depth the last couple of seasons. A seventh-round pick of the Boston Bruins, he’s carved out a place as a short-term bottom-pairing option. In 83 NHL games, he has 13 points.

His contract length and uncertain health status will likely keep him from being claimed, meaning the Penguins can use him the same way they did last season when he’s ready to return. Expect to see him at some point this year, but he likely won’t be an impact player for Pittsburgh.

Minor Transactions: 10/26/19

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It’s a quieter schedule than usual on a Saturday but there are still 18 teams in action including Calgary and Winnipeg who will face off in the first outdoor game of the season at the Heritage Classic plus a rematch of the Stanley Cup Final with St. Louis and Boston.  There will likely be plenty of roster movement throughout the day which we’ll keep tabs on here.

  • The Sabres announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned defenseman William Borgen to AHL Rochester. He was recalled on Friday to serve as an extra with Marco Scandella dealing with a lower-body injury.  He has yet to record a point in seven games with the Americans but leads the team with 27 penalty minutes this season.
  • Defenseman Reid McNeill is returning to the Penguins organization as their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton announced that he has signed a tryout deal with the team. McNeill was a sixth-rounder of Pittsburgh back in 2010 and spent parts of five seasons in their minor league system before they traded him to St. Louis back in 2016.
  • Adam Vingan of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that center Anthony Richard has joined the Predators in Tampa Bay which suggests that he has been recalled.  The 22-year-old made his NHL debut with Nashville last season but has spent most of his career in the minors.  Though he led AHL Milwaukee in scoring last season, he’s off to a slow start offensively with them this year with just a goal and an assist in seven games.
  • The Wild announced (via Twitter) that they have assigned center Gabriel Dumont to AHL Iowa.  His roster spot will go to fellow center Joel Eriksson Ek who has been activated off IR.  Dumont got into three games with Minnesota while on recall and was held off the scoresheet while averaging 11:30 per night.
  • The Edmonton Oilers announced they have recalled forward Gaetan Haas from the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL after two games. Haas brought in from the NLA this summer to add some forward depth to the team failed to show much offense in his first five games of the season with Edmonton, picking up just one assist. He was assigned to Bakerfield to give him more playing time. He tallied one assist in two games there and now returns to the Oilers to see if he can boost the team’s bottom-six scoring struggles. He will replace Josh Archibald, who was placed on IR Friday.
  • After being recalled yesterday for the Carolina Hurricanes’ game Saturday, the Hurricanes announced today, after their 4-0 shutout over Chicago, that they have assigned forward Brian Gibbons to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL again. The 31-year-old played 11:59 today for the Hurricanes, registering a hit and two blocked shots. Gibbons has dominated with the Checkers, posting three goals and eight points in six games. He’ll likely be recalled the first chance the team needs an extra forward.
  • With a desperate need for a goaltender, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins announced they have signed former NHL goaltender Sebastien Caron to a professional tryout contract for tonight’s game. The 39-year-old Caron hasn’t appeared in a professional game since the 2015-16 season when he played in the German DEL league and hasn’t appeared in a North American game since the 2011-12 season when he played for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Caron appeared in 95 NHL games with a 3.45 GAA and a .892 save percentage. He also played a large chunk of his AHL career (123 games) for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

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