Archives for January 2024

Penguins Recall Colin White

January 13, 2024 at 4:58 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 1 Comment

The Penguins recalled forward Colin White from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday afternoon, per a team release. To remain cap-compliant, the team sent defenseman Ryan Shea to WBS in a corresponding transaction.

White, 26, is in his first season with the organization after shouldering fourth-line duties for the Panthers in their run to last season’s Stanley Cup Final. Initially joining the team on a PTO during training camp, the 2015 first-round pick was one of the few tryout attendees this year to earn a permanent contract. The Penguins signed him to a one-year, two-way deal three days before the start of the season and promptly placed him on waivers.

After passing through unclaimed, White reported to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for his first full-time AHL assignment in six years. His stat line with the Baby Pens is underwhelming, to say the least. He’s posted five goals and five assists for ten points in 21 games, although he’s heating up with eight points in his last ten games after a horrid start to the year.

The former Ottawa Senator is now on his third team in as many years after his lone campaign in Florida in 2022-23. His production has continuously dwindled since his 14-goal, 41-point rookie season in 2018-19, which prompted former Senators GM Pierre Dorion to sign him to an ill-advised six-year, $28.5MM deal that was bought out in the summer of 2022.

Injuries have played a major role in his lack of development. Most significantly, a dislocated shoulder cost him the first 50 games of the 2021-22 campaign.

Nevertheless, he gets what’s likely to be a brief shot back in the NHL ranks with Pittsburgh. With Reilly Smith sidelined with an upper-body injury, the Penguins are down to 12 healthy forwards on the active roster and only have cap room for two healthy skaters. For now, they evidently prefer to carry 13 forwards and six defenders rather than 12 and seven.

Shea, also in his first season in Pittsburgh, heads back to the AHL after a ten-day stint on the NHL roster. The 26-year-old’s only NHL experience has come in a Penguins jersey this season, posting a -2 rating and averaging 12:28 per game in 22 contests. The former Blackhawks and Stars prospect is still looking for his first NHL point.

He was one of the best shutdown blueliners in the minor leagues last season, posting 28 points and a +37 rating in 70 games with AHL Texas. That showing earned him a one-way deal from Pittsburgh and a spot on the team’s opening-night roster, and while he’s shown solid chance-prevention skills with the Penguins, his lack of any offensive production has bumped him down the depth chart over the past few months. He’s eligible for UFA status next summer.

Canucks Notes: Pettersson, Hughes, Kuzmenko

January 13, 2024 at 4:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

Canucks center Elias Pettersson is the most prominent player among those eligible for restricted free agency this summer. Although talks were reportedly shelved heading into the season, there have been some discussions since then. Whether there will be more remains to be seen as Pettersson’s agent Pat Brisson told Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre that he’s unsure if there will be further talks on that front between now and the end of the season. Pettersson, who can break the all-time NHL record tonight for consecutive games with a game-winning goal (he’s currently at four), has 22 goals and 35 assists in 42 games and stands to land considerably more than his $8.82MM qualifying offer whenever a new agreement is eventually reached.

Red Wings Recall Brogan Rafferty

January 13, 2024 at 3:28 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The Red Wings have added some extra depth on the back end heading into their game tonight against Los Angeles, announcing (Twitter link) the recall of blueliner Brogan Rafferty from AHL Grand Rapids. Detroit had two open roster spots so no further moves were needed to bring him up.

The 28-year-old is in his first season in Detroit’s organization after signing a two-year, two-way deal with them back in July. Rafferty has exclusively played with the Griffins this season and is having a quieter year by his standards offensively, notching just 13 points in 33 games. This comes on the heels of a 51-point effort with AHL Coachella Valley last season, helping the Firebirds reach the Calder Cup Finals.

Rafferty has three career NHL appearances under his belt with Vancouver, the most of recent of which came back in the 2020-21 campaign where he had an assist in his lone game. Detroit now has eight blueliners on its active roster which is a bit surprising but it’s possible that his addition is a hedge against someone potentially being unavailable to take on the Kings.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: New York Islanders

January 13, 2024 at 2:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2023-24 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

New York Islanders

Current Cap Hit: $84,906,199 (over the $83.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Simon Holmstrom (one year, $863K)

After a quiet rookie year, Holmstrom has become a shorthanded scoring specialist this season, being among the league leaders in that department. Even so, he is primarily deployed in a bottom-six role which will limit his earnings upside. A bridge deal seems quite likely although he could push his way toward the $1.5MM mark if he can keep up his current pace.

Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level

D Sebastian Aho ($825K, UFA)
D Robert Bortuzzo ($950K, UFA)
F Cal Clutterbuck ($1.75MM, UFA)
F Matt Martin ($1.5MM, UFA)
D Mike Reilly ($1MM, UFA)

After an injury-riddled 2022-23 campaign, Clutterbuck has managed to stay healthy this season and play a bigger role than many expected. Still, he’s 36 with a lot of physical games under his belt. In theory, he should be looking at a dip in pay but GM Lou Lamoriello has gone to painstaking lengths to keep his fourth line together so it’s hard to rule out the possibility of another deal like this one. Martin’s injury issues should limit his mark but again, a lower-cost extension heading into his age-35 year is likely an option at least being considered.

Reilly has fared pretty well since coming over on a waiver claim from Florida. Given his limited NHL time the last couple of seasons though, it’s hard to foresee a big raise coming his way. Perhaps something closer to $1.5MM if he keeps up his current production in the second half but for him, securing a multi-year agreement might be more of a priority. Bortuzzo was brought in to cover some minutes in the wake of the injuries on the back end but is likely looking at something near the minimum if he wants to play a 14th NHL season. Aho has established himself as a regular over the last couple of seasons and showed a bit of offensive upside last year. That should push him into the $1.5MM range on a multi-year deal; he should have a few suitors on the open market.

Signed Through 2024-25

D Noah Dobson ($4MM, RFA)
F Hudson Fasching ($775K, UFA)
F Julien Gauthier ($787.5K, UFA)
F Brock Nelson ($6MM, UFA)
F Kyle Palmieri ($5MM, UFA)
D Alexander Romanov ($2.5MM, RFA)

Nelson has had somewhat of a career resurgence in recent years, putting up his best two years in the last two seasons and is hovering near a 70-point pace again this season. That makes him a bit of a bargain, a thought that didn’t seem as likely when this contract was first signed. If he can hold this pace over the next year and a half, another small jump could be doable on a shorter-term agreement.

Adding Palmieri made sense to try to add to New York’s offense in 2021 but it’s fair to say that he has underwhelmed on that front since being acquired. He’s getting paid more at the level of a 45-point player and injuries have stopped him from getting more than 33 in a single season yet. It’s not a crippling overpayment but he’s going to need to do more if he wants to get this much on the open market in 2025. Gauthier and Fasching are end-of-roster players that, at this point, appear likely to remain around the minimum salary moving forward.

When the Islanders opted to use their leverage to get Dobson to take a bridge deal, it was one that it looked like he’d outperform fairly quickly. It’s safe to say that has happened and then some. After putting up 100 points over the last two seasons, the 24-year-old is now around the point-per-game mark, making him one of the top-scoring blueliners in the NHL. We know point producers get paid but add his strong two-way play to his output and New York has a player primed for a hefty increase in salary. At this point, with Dobson having arbitration rights, it’s looking like the question won’t be if he’ll double his current AAV but rather by how much more it’ll go up beyond that.

Romanov was another player who was more or less forced into a bridge contract with their cap situation at the time. The 24-year-old has been a consistent presence on the second pairing over the last few years but doesn’t have the offensive numbers to push him into the higher-paid tier of defenders. Still, a long-term agreement that buys out some UFA eligibility should go past the $4MM mark.

Signed Through 2025-26

F Jean-Gabriel Pageau ($5MM, UFA)
F Anders Lee ($7MM, UFA)

Lee has been an impactful power forward for most of his time with the Isles but is starting to show signs of slowing down. He’ll be 36 when this deal is up and his next contract, if there is one, will likely be half of this one or less. Pageau, meanwhile, has been a steady middle-six center over the past several years although his production has dipped this season as well. If he’s trending toward being more of a true third liner at this point, this deal will become an overpayment fairly quickly. He’ll be 34 when this contract is up and he’ll likely be heading for a fair-sized dip in pay as well.

Signed Through 2026-27 Or Longer

F Mathew Barzal ($9.15MM through 2030-31)
F Casey Cizikas ($2.5MM through 2026-27)
F Pierre Engvall ($3MM through 2029-30)
F Bo Horvat ($8.5MM through 2030-31)
D Scott Mayfield ($3.5MM through 2029-30)
D Adam Pelech ($5.75MM through 2028-29)
D Ryan Pulock ($6.15MM through 2029-30)
G Ilya Sorokin ($4MM in 2023-24 $8.25MM from 2024-25 through 2031-32)
G Semyon Varlamov ($2.75MM through 2026-27)

It has taken a long time for Barzal to get back to the offensive level he showed in his rookie year; he hasn’t recorded 20 goals or more than 62 points since then. That means that this deal carried some significant risk, even though it locked in a core forward for the long haul. But Barzal has found that extra gear this season after being moved to the wing as he’s now on pace to beat his freshman output. If that holds up and if he’s able to stay around the 80-point mark consistently, the Isles will get at least a reasonable return on this commitment, even if the value dips a bit since he’s no longer at the more valuable position. Right now, they’re certainly encouraged by his recent production.

Horvat’s contract will be best known for Lamoriello’s comments to reporters when he said “All I can tell you is it’s too long and it’s too much money”. This, on a deal he signed not long after acquiring the center. Horvat got off to a great start with Vancouver to earn this contract but struggled down the stretch, creating some early angst. However, he has been a lot better this season, hovering around the point-per-game mark. Like Barzal, this isn’t a contract that’s likely to carry surplus value but as long as he’s in that 80-point range, they’ll do okay with it.

Engvall’s contract is one that made little sense over the summer. While he fit in well after being acquired from Toronto, a seven-year commitment for a bottom-six forward who never had more than 35 points was risky, to say the league. The early returns aren’t promising and teams can get themselves into cap trouble with too many of these mid-tier pacts. Cizikas has been a key energy player for more than a decade now but this feels like a legacy contract that could be problematic at the end. Right now, he plays more than a fourth liner which gives New York a salvageable return but once that changes, he’ll be a pricey depth piece.

Pelech and Pulock are similar players in similar situations, veterans who are strong in their own end but don’t produce at the level of a typical top-pairing player. That limits the upside of their contracts but both project to be core blueliners for several more seasons; they’re both currently 29. Accordingly, their deals won’t be viewed as bargains over the remainder of the term but they should age relatively well. Like Engvall, Mayfield getting seven years as a depth player raised some eyebrows but if nothing else, he can still handle second pairing minutes when called upon. As a result, the Isles will get some value for now but as the team gets healthy and he goes to the third pairing, this will be a bit of an overpayment over the long run.

Lamoriello didn’t have much of a choice when it came to signing Sorokin. The 28-year-old has established himself as one of the premier goalies in the NHL (despite his mediocre numbers this year) and was going to get a big-money, max-term agreement from someone if he made it to unrestricted free agency after this season. This is definitely on the higher end of the salary scale – especially as more teams pivot toward platoons – but it’s a price they’re justified in paying.

Varlamov, on the other hand, was another head-scratcher. Yes, he’s an above-average backup and $2.75MM for that is decent value but will that still be the case when he’s 39 which is when this deal ends? There’s some short-term payoff but this could hurt them a couple of years from now.

Buyouts

G Rick DiPietro ($1.5MM through 2028-29, cap-exempt)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Best Value: Dobson
Worst Value: Lee

Looking Ahead

The Islanders are one of many teams that will be in a money-in, money-out situation for any moves they look to make leading up to the trade deadline. They also don’t have a particularly deep prospect pool to work with so Lamoriello will have to get creative to make an impactful addition. On the other hand, he’s shown himself to be creative before so they can’t be ruled out as a dark horse team on the trade front leading up to March 8th.

Beyond this season, things really get tight. They already have over $81MM in commitments for 2024-25 with half a dozen roster spots to fill after that. That number drops to $61.55MM in 2025-26 but at that point, they’ll have more than half a roster to fill with their remaining cap space. Accordingly, adding players with term is going to be hard to do and New York will likely be looking to move one or two players on multi-year deals out. In this salary cap environment, that won’t be easy. Lamoriello has a self-created challenge to work his way through as a result.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Acquiring Rights To Sasha Chmelevski

January 13, 2024 at 1:44 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 8 Comments

Sasha Chmelevski’s first attempt at playing pro hockey in North America didn’t go particularly well and when his contract with the Sharks expired in 2022, he opted to head back home to play in the KHL; San Jose tendered a qualifying offer to retain his rights at that time. However, after a strong couple of seasons there, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that teams are showing interest in acquiring his rights and that Chmelevski’s agent has been granted permission to try to facilitate a swap. Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that the Canucks are among the teams showing interest.

The 24-year-old center was a sixth-round pick by San Jose back in 2017 (185th overall) out of OHL Ottawa. Chmelevski was a productive player in his final two years with the 67’s, collecting 151 points in 124 games over that stretch.

Chmelevski spent the majority of his entry-level deal with San Jose at the AHL level where he posted respectable numbers, collecting 35 goals and 53 assists in 122 games with the Barracuda. Meanwhile, while he didn’t score at the NHL level in 24 games with the Sharks, he did post ten assists despite spending a lot of time in the bottom six.

But Chmelevski’s decision to return to the KHL with a shot at more guaranteed money and a big role has paid off. He’s in his second season with Salavat Yulaev and currently sits tenth in league scoring with 21 goals and 22 assists in 49 games. Based on the trade interest, it appears there are at least some teams that are open to giving him an NHL look next season.

With San Jose in the midst of a rebuild, it’s a bit surprising that they don’t seem to be one of those teams. Otherwise, they’d be trying to work out an agreement with Chmelevski themselves. But with multiple teams showing interest, they might be able to pick up a decent draft pick or prospect for his rights which is still not a bad outcome for a player who opted to go overseas two seasons ago.

Golden Knights Recall Two From AHL, Place Tobias Bjornfot On IR

January 13, 2024 at 1:13 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

Vegas has made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game tonight against Calgary, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled center Byron Froese and goaltender Isaiah Saville from AHL Henderson. To make room on the roster, defenseman Tobias Bjornfot has been placed on IR.

Froese is in his second season with Vegas after signing a two-year, two-way deal for the league minimum in free agency back in 2022. The 33-year-old got into nine games with the Golden Knights last season where he had a pair of points but has played exclusively with the Silver Knights this year, collecting six goals and six assists in 33 games. Froese has 125 NHL appearances under his belt, many of which have been in a fourth line depth role which is the one he’s likely to fill if he sees any game action. Jack Eichel didn’t take part in the game day skate so it appears Froese’s recall is to hedge against Eichel not being available.

As for Saville, he was just sent back down yesterday and has been shuffled back and forth recently due to the uncertain availability of both Adin Hill and Jiri Patera. The 23-year-old has missed the bulk of the campaign after starting the year on season-opening IR, limiting him to seven appearances with Henderson where he has a 2.52 GAA and a .914 SV%.

Bjornfot, meanwhile, was claimed off waivers from Los Angeles earlier this month. Since then, the 22-year-old has played in a pair of games, bringing his season total to three as he has spent the bulk of the year in a reserve role. There’s no word yet on the nature of the injury and how long he might be out of the lineup. Between IR and LTIR, Vegas now has eight players on injured reserve.

Metropolitan Notes: Flyers, Ovechkin, Kakko

January 13, 2024 at 1:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments

Among the teams that the Flyers discussed a Cutter Gauthier trade with was the Avalanche, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link). Friedman suggests that Philadelphia’s target from the Avs may have been blueliner Bowen Byram, an option that wasn’t palatable for Colorado in a one-for-one swap. Of course, Gauthier wound up being moved to Anaheim for another blueliner, Jamie Drysdale, who is off to a nice start with his new team with a pair of assists in his first two games while averaging nearly 21 minutes a night. With Drysdale being a right-shot player and Byram a left-shot blueliner (which Philadelphia has more of in their system), it’s possible that Colorado’s rejection may work out better for them in the long run.

Atlantic Notes: Anderson, Chartier, Bellows

January 13, 2024 at 11:28 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that winger Josh Anderson will not play tonight due to a lower-body injury and that he will be evaluated on a daily basis. The 29-year-old had a dreadful start to his season as he was held without a goal for his first 24 games but since then, he has fared better with seven goals and two assists in his last 17 outings. His spot in the lineup will be taken by Joshua Roy who was recalled late last night. Montreal presently has over $25MM in salaries for their injured players per CapFriendly with this injury pushing that number past the $30MM mark.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

Senators center Rourke Chartier has been activated off LTIR, TSN 1200 reports (Twitter link). The 27-year-old has missed the last four weeks with a concussion. Chartier has played in a career-high 25 games so far this season on Ottawa’s fourth line, picking up two points while winning just over half of his faceoffs. With Anton Forsberg landing on LTIR on Friday, the Sens don’t need to make a corresponding move to get cap-compliant.
Nick Barden of The Hockey News points out that Kieffer Bellows’ PTO with AHL Toronto has now come to an end. After not catching on with a team to start the season, the 25-year-old joined the Marlies in early November and was quite productive, notching 14 goals and 12 assists in his 25-game stint. Bellows is eligible to sign another PTO or a full-season contract with either the Marlies or Maple Leafs but with the success he had, the veteran of 95 career NHL appearances could also attract some interest elsewhere.

Wild Activate Filip Gustavsson, Assign Jesper Wallstedt To AHL

January 13, 2024 at 10:27 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 6 Comments

The Wild will be welcoming back their starting goalie for tonight’s game against Minnesota as the team announced (Twitter link) that Filip Gustavsson has been activated off injured reserve. To make room for him on the roster, Jesper Wallstedt has been returned to AHL Iowa.

Gustavsson has been dealing with a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup for the last two weeks. Before that, he had struggled somewhat relative to last year’s breakout performance. While his .903 SV% is above the league average, it’s a steep drop from the .931 mark he posted in 2022-23. With Marc-Andre Fleury also struggling as of late having only recorded a save percentage above .900 in one of his last six starts, Gustavsson will likely get a chance to play significant minutes fairly quickly as Minnesota looks to keep within striking distance of a Wild Card spot.

As for Wallstedt, Minnesota’s top goalie prospect got a rough introduction to the NHL earlier this week, allowing seven goals on 34 shots to Dallas on Wednesday. However, the 2021 first-rounder has fared quite well with Iowa this season, posting a 2.54 GAA and a .917 SV% in 20 games with them. With Fleury’s contract up at the end of the season, Wallstedt could become the full-time backup in Minnesota before long so getting him back in the minors to maximize his playing time is certainly ideal.

Canadiens Recall Joshua Roy

January 13, 2024 at 9:25 am CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Following their AHL affiliate’s contest last night, the Canadiens announced that they’ve recalled winger Joshua Roy from Laval. The team had an open roster spot following Thursday’s demotion of Emil Heineman.

The 20-year-old fell to the fifth round in 2021, going 150th overall. However, since being drafted, he was quite a productive player at the major junior level, recording 97 goals and 121 assists in 121 games with QMJHL Sherbrooke in his final two years. Roy added 47 points in 25 playoff appearances over that same stretch. He also played for Canada in two World Junior tournaments, notching eight goals and 11 helpers in 14 contests in those events.

Roy has carried over that production to the AHL level in 2023-24, sitting second on Laval in scoring with 12 goals and 18 assists in 34 games. His 30 points put him third among all rookies in the AHL this season.

Montreal’s offense sits near the bottom of the pack in the NHL this season as they enter play tonight ranking 26th in that department. With the Canadiens down several key forwards including Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Christian Dvorak, and Tanner Pearson, Roy should get a chance to play an offensive role with them fairly quickly.

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