While the roster freeze has technically been in effect for close to a week now, there are some exceptions that allow teams to send players down. If they were recalled after December 11th or later and don’t require being placed on waivers to be returned to the NHL, they were eligible for assignment. Per CapFriendly, quite a few teams have taken advantage of that this weekend. Here’s a rundown of those AHL assignments:
Anaheim Ducks
G Olle Eriksson Ek
F Justin Kirkland
Boston Bruins
F Craig Smith
Carolina Hurricanes
F Jack Drury
Columbus Blue Jackets
F Josh Dunne (link)
Calgary Flames
F Nick DeSimone
F Matthew Phillips
Dallas Stars
F Riley Tufte (link)
Florida Panthers
F Grigori Denisenko
D Matt Kiersted
F Givani Smith
Los Angeles Kings
F Rasmus Kupari
D Jordan Spence
Nashville Predators
F Tommy Novak (link)
New York Islanders
F Hudson Fasching
F Aatu Raty
D Parker Wotherspoon
Vegas Golden Knights
F Pavel Dorofeyev
D Brayden Pachal
F Jonas Rondbjerg
The purpose for most of these moves is cap and salary savings. For each player making the minimum, teams save a little over $4K per player per day while for someone like Smith, the savings are closer to $6K per day. For players that have recently cleared waivers, the assignment also temporarily stops the 30-day clock before they need to pass through again to be returned to the minors. In most cases, these transactions will be reversed on Tuesday when the NHL schedule resumes.