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Joseph Labate

Minor Transactions: 08/20/18

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The hockey world chugs along as we wait for preseason games to start in a few weeks. We’ll keep track of the minor moves right here:

  • Joseph LaBate has signed an AHL contract with the Belleville Senators, leaving the Vancouver Canucks organization after three years. LaBate was eligible for Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer after failing to crack the Canucks lineup for more than 13 games, and will now try his hand with the AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators. The 6’5″ winger is a tough player to line up against, and will give the Senators a little more size for the 2017-18 season.
  • Brett Murray has left Penn State University to return to junior hockey according to Patrick Burns of the Daily Collegian. Murray, a Buffalo Sabres fourth-round draft pick, has experience in the USHL but could also go to the OHL where the Oshawa Generals still hold his rights. The big winger scored just six points in 21 games for Penn State last season, but will take his talents back to the junior ranks where he had found more success in the past.
  • Colton Hargrove, a Boston Bruins draft pick, has signed an AHL contract with the Texas Stars for 2018-19. In three seasons with the Providence Bruins Hargrove registered 87 total points, including a solid season in 2017-18 with 33 in just 52 games. The 26-year old became an unrestricted free agent in 2017 when the Bruins decided not to extend him a qualifying offer.

Free Agent Focus: Vancouver Canucks

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Free agency is now a little more than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of Vancouver’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F Sven Baertschi — Considered to be a player who could break out at any time, the 25-year-old restricted free agent never has had the opportunity as injuries have derailed any true success so far. Having already played in parts of seven seasons and three complete seasons, Baertschi has never played a full season or even close to that much (his season high is 69 games back in 2015-16). This past year, the winger only got into 53 games as he dealt with a jaw injury in December after being hit in the face with a puck and then separated his shoulder in March that ended his season. With 14 goals and 29 points, Baertschi has the potential to contribute to a young team if he can stay healthy.

While the team will likely find a way to ink him to a one-year extension (he made $1.85MM each of the last two years), the team must also determine if he’s a core player who will be a major contributor on his team in the future. Another injury prone year could force the team to move on from him if he can’t prove that he can stay on the ice.

Other RFA’s: F Reid Boucher, F Cole Cassels, D Anton Cederholm, F Michael Chaput, F Markus Granlund, F Griffen Molino, D Derrick Pouliot, D Troy Stecher, D Mackenze Stewart, F Jake Virtanen.

Key Unrestricted Free Agent: F Darren Archibald — Archibald’s name suggests that the team has little to worry about when it comes to their own free agents. With just three NHL-level unrestricted free agents, Archibald’s value stands out. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound wing provides the team with grit, solid skating and physicality and has started to step up for Vancouver this season. A long-time AHL player, Archibald got into 27 games for the Canucks this season, putting up four goals and nine points and was a favorite of coach Travis Green and might be a cheap fourth-line option for Vancouver (he made $650K last season) rather than the franchise go out and sign a veteran for that spot.

Other UFA’s: G Richard Bachman, F Nic Dowd, F Jussi Jokinen, F Joseph Labate, F Jayson Megna, D Patrick Wiercioch.

Projected Cap Space: The team should have plenty of cap space if the team is ready to spend after the retirements of Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin. They have a little less than $53MM committed to players for the 2018-19 season and few contracts of their own that they have to deal with. The team could attempt to add a few veterans to mesh with their young core of Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson and must focus more of their attention on their defense, but they do have plenty of space to do that.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Complete List Of Potential Group VI Unrestricted Free Agents

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Back in November, we took a look at some of the potential Group VI free agents that could hit unrestricted free agency early this offseason. Of that group, Josh Leivo was extended and Stefan Noesen eclipsed the number of games played needed to stay with the New Jersey Devils organization. Now, CapFriendly has compiled a complete list of players still at risk of becoming free agents early, including how many games they need. To refresh your memory on how a player qualifies for Group VI free agency, they must meet three requirements:

  1. The player is 25 years or older (as of June 30th of the calendar year the contract is expiring).
  2. The player has completed 3 or more professional seasons – qualified by 11 or more professional games (for an 18/19 year old player), or 1 or more professional games (for a player aged 20 or older). This can include NHL, minor league, and European professional league seasons played while under an SPC.
  3. The player has played less than 80 NHL games, or 28 NHL games of 30 minutes or greater for a goaltender.

The entire list of players at risk can be found below, but make sure you check out CapFriendly for more detailed information on how they could avoid the designation this summer.

*Indicates that the player could still play in enough games this season to become ineligible for Group VI free agency

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Vancouver Canucks Re-Sign Joseph LaBate

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Fresh off of his rookie season, checking forward Joseph LaBate has re-signed with the Vancouver Canucks. The team announced today that the 24-year-old has signed a one-year, two-way deal worth the league minimum of $650K. The two sides came to terms below the value of LaBate’s qualifying offer, $660K, which was made last week.

Standing 6’5″ and weighing over 200 lbs., LaBate is a noticeable presence on the ice. A two-way forward who can play both center and wing, he is a good fit for a versatile, energy-line job when called upon by Vancouver. While he provides only meager offense – no points in 13 NHL games and just 16 points in 38 AHL games last year –  he makes up for it with consistent defensive play. In the team’s press release, GM Jim Benning praised LaBate’s ability to be a physical presence for both the Canucks and AHL’s Utica Comets. Without many big checking forwards on the roster, Vancouver likely hopes that LaBate can carve out a role for himself on their bottom line as a two-way threat and work towards exhibiting some of the offensive touch he showed as a four-year starter at the University of Wisconsin.

While Benning and the Canucks are happy to have one of their young players back under contract, the team still has their work cut out for them with extending restricted free agents, with Bo Horvat, Brendan Gaunce, Reid Boucher, Michael Chaput and Evan McEneny in need of new deals. LaBate is just the beginning of several expected contracts this off-season for Vancouver.

Minor Moves: Sparks, Labate, Kloos

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Garret Sparks has been returned to the Toronto Marlies after backing up Curtis McElhinney on Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs will welcome Frederik Andersen back into the lineup when they take on the Nashville Predators tomorrow night, though whether he starts or not is still up in the air. Sparks hasn’t played a single game for the Maple Leafs this season after taking the starting job down the stretch last year. He’s faced injury and a suspension earlier this year for “violent and sexist language toward a user in an online group.”

A seventh-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2011, Sparks has battled his way up the depth chart in Toronto and now sits as the starter for the Marlies as they head into the playoffs. With McElhinney hitting the open market as a free agent this summer, it is possible that Sparks would be first in line for the backup job next season.

  • After spending the past month playing five or six minutes a game for the Vancouver Canucks, the team has decided to send Joseph Labate back to the AHL. The huge winger has played just thirteen games for the Canucks this season, scoring zero points and registering 21 penalty minutes. A fourth-round pick in 2011, Labate hasn’t quite turned into the power forward they’d hoped, and is barely qualified for fourth line duty at this point.
  • The Minnesota Wild have made the signing of Justin Kloos official, inking him to a two-year deal starting in 2017-18. He’ll report to Iowa on an amateur tryout for the rest of the season. Iowa could actually still make the playoffs, as despite their 31-28-8 record this season they trail the Cleveland Monsters by only three points for the final spot in the Central Division. With nine games remaining, Kloos will try to make his impact felt immediately at the professional level.

Minor Transactions: 3/11/17

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Here is a rundown of today’s minor roster moves:

  • The Canucks announced (via Twitter) that they have recalled left winger Joseph Labate from Utica of the AHL and it’s expected that he will suit up later tonight against Pittsburgh. Labate made his NHL debut earlier this season and has been held off the scoresheet through five games.  He has also suited up in 29 games with the Comets in the minors, collecting 13 points (4-9-13) along with 63 penalty minutes.
  • With goalie John Gibson being activated off injured reserve, the Ducks announced they have assigned Jhonas Enroth to AHL San Diego. Enroth didn’t get into a game with Anaheim during his recall despite putting up some stellar numbers in the minors.  In a dozen games with the Gulls, Enroth is 10-2 with a 1.42 GAA and a .944 SV%.
  • The Predators have recalled winger Miikka Salomaki from his injury conditioning assignment in Milwaukee, via the AHL’s transactions page. He isn’t in the lineup for today’s game against the Sharks, however.  Salomaki has been out of the lineup since mid-October with a lower body injury and has played in just two games with Nashville this season.  He played in four games with the Admirals during his conditioning stint, collecting a goal along with four penalty minutes.
  • It appears New Jersey goaltender Keith Kinkaid is feeling well enough to dress tonight against the Coyotes. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned Ken Appleby to Albany of the AHL while recalling left winger Blake Pietila on an emergency basis.  The 24 year old forward has spent most of the season in the minors where he has 29 points (15-14-29) through 42 games while going pointless in a pair of NHL contests.  Andrew Gross of Fire and Ice adds (via Twitter) that Pietila will fill in tonight for Devante Smith-Pelly (lower body injury).

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