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Griffin Reinhart

Domingue, Reinhart Placed On Waivers

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Monday: Both Domingue and Reinhart have cleared waivers and will be assigned to their respective AHL clubs.

Sunday: Arizona goaltender Louis Domingue and Vegas Golden Knights’ defender Griffin Reinhart were both placed on waivers this morning, according to Elliotte Friedman. Assuming both players clear waivers on Monday, they will be assigned to their respective AHL teams.

Domingue became expendable yesterday after the Coyotes traded for New Jersey Devils goaltender Scott Wedgewood. Domingue has received the lions’ share of minutes in goal for Arizona this year with the injury woes that starter Antti Raanta has sustained. The Coyotes’ backup for the past two years has struggled this year with a 4.33 GAA and a miserable .856 save percentage in seven games, prompting the team to look for a replacement in Wedgewood. The transaction also likely indicates that Raanta might be ready to return to action after having sit out for all, but three games so far this year with multiple injuries.

Reinhart has been one of the Vegas Golden Knights multitude of defensemen who general manager George McPhee has been protecting on their roster, forcing other players such as Shea Theodore to have to sit in the AHL, waiting for an opening. The former fourth-overall pick in the 2012 draft has never been able to break through at the NHL level and along with his size (6-foot-4, 212 pounds) and draft status has been considered to be a guy that could develop into a legitimate NHL player and has been given numerous chances to succeed. However, Reinhart was a healthy scratch for the Golden Knights’ first seven games before they sent him to the Chicago Wolves on a conditioning stint. He has struggled there in two games, prompting the decision to put him on waivers.

Metropolitan Notes: Vigneault, Atkinson, Johansson, Reinhart

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New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault might not have much time left to repair the sinking ship. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that he believes that Vigneault has one more game left to prove he can turn the Rangers disastrous start of 3-7-2 around. He will get that game Tuesday against the 8-1 Vegas Golden Knights.

While Brooks admits that it is his belief and he’s heard nothing to suggest that will happen, he points out that the team’s struggles to start the season, especially falling behind 3-0 in the first period to the equally struggling Montreal Canadiens shows that Vigneault may not be the answer. A coaching change may be the only way to breathe some life into the franchise who were heavily criticized for their efforts in thejr 5-4 loss.

Brooks also points out that the team’s poor start in first periods has been a key issue for New York. The team has been outscored 3-0 in the first two minutes of 12 games this season; 5-1 in the first three minutes of games; 6-2 in the first four minutes; 8-3 in the first six minutes; 10-4 in the first 10 minutes and 12-4 in the first 12 minutes of games. He writes this is inexcusable and is bad enough to physically allow so many early goals, but the team is also unengaged mentally the moment the puck is dropped.

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets may have to do without winger Cam Atkinson for a little while as he suffered a lower-body injury, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required). The team’s leading scorer for the past two years had a rough game, suffering a lower-body injury in the first period, a puck to his helmet during the second period and then sustained another hit to his lower body that knocked him out of the game in the third period. Portzline said an announcement won’t be made until Monday as the team didn’t practice today. Atkinson has four goals and an assist in 11 games this year. Rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois moved up to replace Atkinson for the remainder of the game.
  • Andrew Gross of Northjersey.com writes that winger Marcus Johansson is day-to-day after tweaking his lower body in pre-game warm-ups before Saturday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. The scribe wrote that it was not a pre-existing injury, but the team choose to hold him out as a precaution. Johansson, who the Devils picked up in an offseason trade with the Washington Capitals, has been a solid contributor for New Jersey this year, having put up three goals and two assists in nine games this year.
  • NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti wonders whether the Washington Capitals might not consider claiming defenseman Griffin Reinhart, who was put on waivers this morning by the Vegas Golden Knights. At $800K and at just 23 years of age, Reinhart might be a good investment for a team that has little cap room and little blue line depth. Reinhart, the fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft, could be claimed by several teams in need of depth on defense. Unfortunately, the Capitals cannot take solace that they will get a high waiver claim even though the team presently sits at 5-5. CapFriendly reported today that current waiver priority is still based on last year’s record. Priority will switch to present standings starting on Nov. 1.

 

Vegas Expected To Promote Shea Theodore

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One positive of all the recent Vegas Golden Knights waiver moves is likely to come out of everything. And that’s TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s report that with veteran defenseman Jason Garrison having cleared waivers today and the team placing defenseman Griffin Reinhart on waivers today, the Golden Knights are expected to recall top prospect defenseman Shea Theodore from Chicago of the AHL today and have him join the team for Monday’s game against the New York Islanders.

Theodore is the 22-year-old prize of Vegas’ expansion draft this summer when they got the 2013 first-round pick from Anaheim in an expansion draft trade in exchange for selecting Clayton Stoner and his pricey contract. Theodore was a key contributor for the Anaheim Ducks last year, especially during their playoff run, putting up nine points in 34 regular season games, but also eight points in 14 playoff games.

While he was one of the team’s top defenders in training camp, the Golden Knights sent Theodore, who is waiver eligible, to the Wolves, while the team sorted out its roster. The blueliner didn’t disappoint while waiting in Chicago, dominating in the AHL. He put up five goals and six assists in eight games and looks ready to take a major role on the Golden Knights 8-1 team.

As for Garrison, who cleared waivers today, the 32-year-old defender has been assigned to Chicago and is expected to play for the Wolves on Monday, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp.

 

Pacific Notes: Neal, Waiver Talk, Dahlen, Gibson

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Although many have speculated that he will be a prime trade candidate between now and the trade deadline, Golden Knights winger James Neal told Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic (subscription required) that he is open to signing a long-term extension to remain with Vegas.  Neal is off to a torrid start with the team, scoring six goals (including all three game-winners) through the first four games of the season and is their undisputed top scoring threat.  Perhaps even more impressive in his start is the fact that his hand has still not fully recovered from the surgery he underwent in the offseason.  Neal didn’t acknowledge if GM George McPhee is amenable to discussing a long-term deal but it would appear that him being the top rental available for trade may not be as clear-cut as originally expected.

Elsewhere in the Pacific:

  • Still with Vegas, while the Golden Knights have been hesitant to place any of their surplus defensemen on waivers, Sportsnet’s John Shannon suggested to 630 CHED in Edmonton (audio link) that both Griffin Reinhart and Brad Hunt would likely pass through unclaimed if the team tried to send them down. The fact that both have two-year, one-way contracts could potentially stand as a deterrent to some teams who might be interested in claiming one of them.  It will be interesting to see if GM George McPhee eventually takes the risk in waiving at least one of them with core players in defenseman Shea Theodore and center Vadim Shipachyov currently being victims of their waiver exemption.
  • Last week, the Canucks announced that they would be loaning prospect Jonathan Dahlen to Sweden although they didn’t specify which team he’d be going to at the time. Although he is currently with Timra of the Allsvenskan (a lower level league) having signed there on Tuesday,  Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province reports that Dahlen’s stay there will be short as he’s expected to join Brynas of the SHL in early December.
  • Ducks goaltender John Gibson left Friday’s game early with an upper-body injury, notes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. The injury actually occurred during the warmup but Gibson tried to play through it.  There’s no word yet on whether or not Gibson will be available to return to the lineup on Sunday against the Sabres.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vegas Golden Knights

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert 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 heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Vegas Golden Knights

Current Cap Hit: $69,375,832 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Alex Tuch (Two years remaining, $925K)
D Shea Theodore (One year remaining, $863K)

Potential Bonuses

Tuch: $425K

While the brand-new franchise is focused on building up a powerhouse team over the next five years, which means draft picks and more draft picks, which will create a revolving door at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, there should be at least one constant who is already locked in for the future in Theodore. The just-turned 22-year-old is considered to be a long-term piece and despite the team’s overwhelming defensive logjam, the hope is Theodore is on the team’s opening day roster. Theodore shined last year during Anaheim’s playoff run when he along with several other defenseman had to step in for injured players and fared well. Theodore, a offensive defenseman, was a first-round pick of the Ducks in 2013 and despite having just nine points in 39 regular season games last year, he put up eight goals in 14 playoff games.

Tuch, a talented forward acquired near the expansion draft in a side deal with the Minnesota Wild, has a chance to immediately make the team out of training camp. The 21-year-old wing was a first-round pick in 2014 and scored 18 goals for the AHL’s Iowa Wild last year.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F James Neal ($5MM, UFA)
F Mikhail Grabovski ($5MM, UFA)
D Jason Garrison ($4.6MM, UFA)
F David Perron ($3.75MM, UFA)
D Luca Sbisa ($3.6MM, UFA)
D Clayton Stoner ($3.25MM, UFA)
D Brayden McNabb ($1.7MM, UFA)
D Jonathon Merrill ($1.14MM, RFA)
F William Karlsson ($1MM, RFA)
D Colin Miller ($1MM, RFA)
D Deryk Engelland ($1MM, UFA)
G Calvin Pickard ($1MM, RFA)
F Jon Marchessault ($750K, UFA)
F Teemu Pulkkinen ($700K, RFA)

The Golden Knights will be looking to move as many of their players at the trade deadline as they can. Neal should be their biggest trade bait as many teams wouldn’t mind adding a goal-scorer right in time for the playoffs. The 30-year-old wing is coming off a 23-goal season in Nashville and has scored 165 goals in the last six seasons combined. The team hopes that playing on a top line should keep his scoring numbers up high so that his price increases at the perfect time, but a recent report that a wrist injury suffered during the playoffs last year is still affecting Neal and he will miss two to four weeks is concerning. The team also has high hopes it can move Perron. After putting up a career-high 28 goals in 2013-14, he has struggled with injuries but rebounded last year with an 18 goal season. If he can stay healthy and produce similar numbers, he might be worth a mid to late pick.

One key decision the team will have to make is what to do with Marchessault, who is coming off a 30-goal season a year ago in Florida. At $750K, he is a bargain for the next year, but if he can duplicate his numbers from last year, he would be in line for a big payday. Complicating the situation is that Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant is a big fan of the 26-year-old and was the head coach in Florida wlast year when Marchessault started his breakout season.

The team also has a number of restricted free agents who they will likely hold onto. While Pickard’s name is rarely mentioned in Vegas as he is the current backup, don’t be surprised if Pickard is penciled in as the goaltender of the future. The 25-year-old struggled with Colorado last year (although he did have one of the worst teams around him), but was a promising prospect before that. Miller is another who should be retained. The 24-year-old was a promising defender in Boston who was just beginning to get full-time work. He got into 61 games last year and showed quite a bit of promise. Karlsson should get a bottom line spot in the lineup. The 24-year-old is coming off a 25-point season and the team hopes he takes his game up a notch.

While Grabovski likely won’t see the ice ever in Las Vegas (freeing the team of his $5MM cap hit), Garrison is a defender who may prove to have some value if he can produce on one of the team’s top defensive lines. The 32-year-old struggled at times in Tampa Bay and his offensive numbers have declined in the past couple of years. McNabb is considered to be an excellent defender and should provide solid defense for Vegas. He missed a lot of time due to a broken collarbone injury he suffered last October, forcing the 26-year-old in and out of the lineup all season and he eventually lost his starting job at the end of the year, but should get regular minutes with the Golden Knights. Sbisa is another player who should get playing time in hopes the team can move him later this year. The 27-year-old blueliner was a solid defenseman, but few teams were interested in his $3.6MM pricetag.

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Vegas Not Worried About Having Too Much Defense

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To some observers, the Vegas Golden Knights have some problems. The team has 13 defensemen on their roster, 11 with NHL experience. Yet, general manager George McPhee is not worried about the glut of defenders on his roster. While the coaches get a say, it will be McPhee who will make the final decision on who plays.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen writes that the team will likely keep eight defenders on their 23-man roster, so that should give defenseman a bit of comfort room. He also writes that it looks like nine players will compete for those eight spots. Three veterans will undoubtedly make the roster in Jason Garrison, Deryk Engelland and Luca Sbisa. Expect Brayden McNabb, the physical defender from the Los Angeles Kings to get a spot on the defensive roster as well as Nate Schmidt, who just signed a new two-year deal for $4.45MM. That’s five. Colin Miller, who led the Boston Bruins in Corsi For and Goals For percentage last season, should also be in the top six.

That leaves a still a number of defensemen who will be fighting for those last two spots.

“Our defensemen can count. They know there are a lot of D here right now,” McPhee said. “We’ll just have to see how camp goes and how we proceed. To be fair, you’d like to say it’s going to be the best six guys, but we’ll see. Sometimes you have to think short term and long term in this job and do what’s best for the organization from that standpoint.”

That quote might suggest that former Anaheim Ducks’ Shea Theodore, who the team picked up in an expansion deal, might be forced to start the season for the AHL Chicago Wolves as he still has waiver options remaining. Theodore, who had a major impact for the Ducks’ defense in the playoffs last year is still just 22 years old and only has 53 games of NHL experience so far, not including the playoffs. He put up just nine points in 34 games last year, but put up eight points in 14 playoff games in an expanded role. Others who will have to fight for spot include Jon Merrill, Clayton Stoner, Griffin Reinhart and Brad Hunt.

Schoen speculates that Merrill is likely to stay with the team, which could leave Stoner out. The team picked up Stoner with Theodore in part of an expansion trade deal. The Anaheim Ducks wanted to rid themselves of Stoner’s $3.25MM contract, but the 32-year-old injury plagued defender has not played since early last season and played in just 14 games last year.

Of course, none of this speculation makes any difference if the team can make a deal. The Golden Knights, who have already traded off several defensemen since the expansion draft, could be waiting for training camps to start. They may be hoping that an injury or a lack of depth could prompt a team to trade for one of their glut of defensemen. However, for now, McPhee continues to state that he is happy to have so much depth on their blueline.

“The neat thing about this process, and I’ve tried to explain this to a number of people, it’s still a blank canvas,” McPhee said. “We’re completely open minded about what might develop. I’m open for some unknown surprises. It’s wide open, and it should be.”

Odd Defenseman Out In Vegas

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Although some of this might be attributed to wishful thinking, the Edmonton Journal’s David Staples openly wonders whether Griffin Reinhart could find his way back to Edmonton. This comes only a day after Reinhart was signed to a reasonable $800,000 deal for two-years in Vegas. Staples wonders whether the excess of defense on the left side will force Vegas to place Reinhart on waivers in an attempt to send him to the AHL. He surmises, probably correctly, that GM Peter Chiarelli would take another gamble on the player if it were to get that far. It seems incredibly unlikely he would make it to Edmonton’s position in the waiver wire, however, as many worse franchises would likely place a claim. It’s even less likely that Vegas management would risk losing that sort of asset for nothing in the first place.

Reinhart is unlikely to make an Edmonton return, but it’s not totally inconceivable that he’d be the odd man out in Vegas. The team went heavy on defense in the expansion draft, and odds are that they will eventually lose someone to the waiver wire if they can’t maneuver more moves. Once Nate Schmidt is signed, they’ll have 11 defensemen on the NHL roster, and that’s if Erik Brannstrom doesn’t make the big squad. Even assuming the Golden Knights can trade two more players, they’re not likely to carry more than 8 defensemen. Someone will be sacrificed to waivers unless GM George McPhee can pull some magic before the start of the season.

The most aged players include Jason Garrison (32), who has a no-trade clause, Deryk Engelland (35), Luca Sbisa (27), and Clayton Stoner (32). Brayden McNabb, Colin Miller, Schmidt, and Shea Theodore will likely constitute the team’s future defense, and it might be difficult for Reinhart to crack that group. Brad Hunt and Jon Merrill are the least likely to attract any major attention if they were to be waived, so there is no necessity to start floundering yet. Hunt in particular would pass with almost no difficulty, as the 5’9, 28-year old defender hasn’t been overly impressive in his 33 career NHL games. Still, depending on who else is moved and whether Reinhart makes an impact at training camp, he could be seen as a non-core piece. McPhee will need to make a determination as to who will be getting major playing time, considering that at this moment things are far too crowded for the younger players to shine.

McNabb, Schmidt, and Miller seem the safest for the moment, but anything can happen. The right side has to be a concern, as only Engelland and Miller naturally play that position. As for now, we’ll have to wait and see who gets unloaded for picks and future assets, and whether they will be much difficulty in doing so. It seems unlikely that Vegas would move Reinhart, a young piece who they just re-signed, considering that if nothing else he can fill a 7th or 8th defensive position. Sbisa and Stoner seem to be the most likely to move out to a team starved for defensive depth, especially considering their contracts are each only good for one more season.

Vegas Signs Reinhart And Leipsic To Two-Year Deals

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The Vegas Golden Knights have announced the signings of Griffin Reinhart and Brendan Leipsic to two-year contracts, per the team’s twitter. Reinhart’s deal is worth $800,000 AAV, while Leipsic’s is only for $650,000 a season.

Reinhart is a former first-round pick, picked fourth overall in 2012 by the New York Islanders. He was moved to Edmonton for a first-round and second-round pick. He under-performed in Alberta, only playing 29 games total. His Corsi For Relative % was a poor -3.3%, and he often struggled with the puck on his stick, flubbing simple zone exits. With only two career assists to his name, he has a lot to prove in the NHL. That said, there was a reason he was so highly touted in his draft class. He’s mobile for a 6’4 defenseman and has tons of room to grow at only 23 years old. He has shown a solid pass from time to time and has the potential to be a solid top-4 defender if he can learn to adjust to the intellectual pace of the NHL game. Watching him down the tail stretch of the season and in his one playoff game in relief due to injuries, he’s not a lost cause. Reinhart has grown physically and still has a decent skill level. Vegas will hope to have struck gold with this player, but he’ll have to beat out other promising young defensemen in the system in order to gain heavy playing time.

Leipsic is a more curious move, as he is quite undersized and is no sure bet to crack an NHL roster. That said, he had a 120-point season with the Portland Winterhawks and adjusted well to his time with the AHL Marlies, potting 50 points twice. The 5’10 winger was an add-on in a trade between Toronto and Nashville a few years back, and has only dressed for 6 games total for the Leafs. Still, he’s only 23, and is a sparkplug on every shift. He moves quickly and has decent hands, but is most likely destined for an AHL scoring role. He’ll have the opportunity to flourish in Vegas if he proves himself early, considering that team’s lack of proven offensive depth.

Neither player had a particularly strong case for a raise, so this news is not much of a shock. Still, Vegas is locking up the players it claimed in the expansion draft and banking on younger players to step up this season.

Vegas Still Has To Deal Multiple Defensemen

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The Vegas Golden Knights still have a lot of work left for them as the offseason continues. The team was heavily commended for focusing on drafting defense in the expansion draft several weeks ago and from there flipping those players for picks as Golden Knights general manager George McPhee has stated numerous times that they are building for the next five years. The team has stockpiled a large number of draft picks since then and still have a number of players to trade, whether that will be now or at the trade deadline next season.

However, they seem to have one issue that they must address before the season starts. Despite trading a bunch of defenseman for picks, the team still has a surplus of defensemen on its roster and the market is beginning to dry up. The team has already traded Trevor van Riemsdyk to Carolina, David Schlemko to Montreal and Marc Methot to Dallas for picks. Just last week, the team moved Alexei Emelin to Nashville, but they had to retain $1.1MM of his salary in order to make the deal work.

The team currently has 11 defensemen with NHL experience on its roster, which is about four or five defensemen too many. The team has made it clear that it doesn’t want to trade its young defensemen, so it’s the veterans they want to trade. The last thing the Golden Knights want to do is be forced to play veterans like Jason Garrison, Clayton Stoner and Luca Sbisa over their younger, but more than ready defensemen. The problem is that Garrison, Stoner and Sbisi are struggling players on expensive contracts. While all three players have only one year on their contracts remaining, Garrison will get $4.6MM, Stoner receives $3.25MM and Sbisi will make $3.6MM next season.

Garrison, 32, has lost a step and found himself being demoted to the bottom of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s depth chart. His salary forced Tampa Bay to offer Vegas two draft picks and Russian prospect Nikita Gusev to take him in the expansion draft. Stoner has dealt with numerous injuries in the last few years and Anaheim had to offer Shea Theodore to make Vegas take Stoner, but after playing just 14 games for the Ducks last year and a declining game, who would want him and that salary? Sbisi is just 27, but he struggled with Vancouver and with his salary may not have much trade value either, but he might be their best hope to make a deal.

The point, of course, is that Vegas will want to play their young defensemen like Theodore, Nate Schmidt, Colin Miller, Brayden McNabb, Jonathon Merrill and maybe even Griffin Reinhart. So, the team must do something to avoid the logjam. There are other options as well. Like Emelin, they could retain some of these players’ salaries in hopes a team would take some of them off their hands. They could wait till training camp and watch for teams that still have holes or suffer injuries that need filling. Another option would be to buy them out or even just sit them in favor of their younger players. However, one would hope Vegas has a plan in place.

Rumored Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Selections

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The Vegas Golden Knights will reveal their expansion selections at tonight’s NHL Awards show, but details have started to come in on who each team will lose. There are many rumors floating around, but these are the most reputable. As with anything, nothing is final until the actual selections are announced tonight. This page will be updated with new information as it comes in.

Here are the latest rumored selections along with their source:

Anaheim Ducks: Clayton Stoner — Bob McKenzie of TSN

Arizona Coyotes: 

Boston Bruins: Colin Miller — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet

Buffalo Sabres: William Carrier — Frank Seravalli of TSN

Calgary Flames: Deryk Engelland — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Carolina Hurricanes:

Chicago Blackhawks: Trevor van Riemsdyk — Frank Seravalli of TSN

Colorado Avalanche:

Columbus Blue Jackets: William Karlsson — Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch

Dallas Stars: Cody Eakin — Jim Toth of TSN

Detroit Red Wings: Tomas Nosek — Craig Custance of The Athletic.

Edmonton Oilers: Griffin Reinhart — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Florida Panthers: Jon Marchessault — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet

Los Angeles Kings: Brayden McNabb — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Minnesota Wild: Erik Haula — Michael Russo of the Star Tribune

Montreal Canadiens: Alexei Emelin — Eric Engels of Sportsnet

Nashville Predators: James Neal — Bob McKenzie of TSN

New Jersey Devils: Jon Merrill — Frank Seravalli of TSN

New York Islanders: Jean-Francois Berube — Bob McKenzie of TSN

New York Rangers: Oscar Lindberg — Larry Brooks of the New York Post and Frank Seravalli of TSN.

Ottawa Senators: Marc Methot — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

Philadelphia Flyers: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Craig Custance of The Athletic

Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury – Bob McKenzie of TSN

San Jose Sharks: David Schlemko — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

St. Louis Blues: David Perron — James Mirtle of The Athletic

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Toronto Maple Leafs: Brendan Leipsic — Darren Dreger of TSN

Vancouver Canucks:

Washington Capitals: Nate Schmidt — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

Winnipeg Jets:

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