Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Lawrence Pilut

Minor Transactions: 11/03/19

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Only a few NHL markets will compete with football this Sunday as just two games are on the schedule for tonight. The Calgary Flames will try to continue their recent resurgence in a game against the Washington Capitals, while the Chicago Blackhawks attempt to get anything going against the Anaheim Ducks. As teams prepare for the action, we’ll be here to keep track of all the minor moves.

  • The New Jersey Devils have sent Matt Tennyson to the minor leagues once again, already the fifth transaction of the young season for the veteran defenseman. The Devils don’t have another game until Tuesday, giving them some time to make another move.
  • Joel Hanley is also on his way back to the AHL, with the Dallas Stars also off until Tuesday evening. Hanley played just 11 minutes last night for Dallas and has one point in five games this season.
  • That’s more than Otto Koivula, who didn’t get into a single game with the New York Islanders before being sent back to the AHL today. The 6’4″ winger is still waiting to make his NHL debut, but will be welcomed back to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers where he is a big part of the offense.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights announced they have assigned goaltender Garret Sparks to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Sparks was brought up as an emergency recall as Marc-Andre Fleury was out sick. However, with the demotion of Sparks, that would suggest that Fleury is expected to be well enough to play against Columbus on Tuesday.
  • The Arizona Coyotes announced they have recalled Michael Chaput from the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL. The 27-year-old AHL veteran will take the place of Brad Richardson, who isn’t expected to join the team for their two-game road trip to Edmonton and Calgary. Chaput has put up five goals and six points in nine AHL games this season. He had five assists in 32 games for Montreal last season.
  • The San Jose Sharks announced they have assigned defenseman Trevor Carrick to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. The blueliner has been up and down, but has played the most of his season with the Sharks, having appeared in three games for them, as opposed to one for the Barracuda. It could also suggest that Carrick is heading to the AHL to make room for Radim Simek, who is expected to be activated off of injured reserve.
  • The Buffalo Sabres made a few moves in anticipation of their trip to Sweden. The team announced they have recalled defenseman Lawrence Pilut from the Rochester Americans of the AHL, while the team placed defenseman Marco Scandella on injured reserve. Pilut has fared quite well in Rochester, posting a goal and six points in eight games this year. Scandella suffered a lower-body injury during Thursday’s game against the Rangers. He is expected to miss two to three weeks. The team also announced that Rochester goaltender Andrew Hammond will be accompanying Buffalo on its trip as an emergency third goaltender.

Eastern Notes: Eberle, Ho-Sang, Jokiharju, Malgin

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The New York Islanders are still awaiting the status of first-line winger Jordan Eberle, who appeared to injure his right leg in the third period of their game Saturday against the Florida Panthers. Eberle took a late-game check from Florida’s Mike Matheson that forced him out of the game as he was in obvious pain. However, Eberle did stay on the bench for the remainder of the game, but Newsday’s Andrew Gross wonders whether Eberle could miss some time.

“I couldn’t give a time frame,” coach Barry Trotz said after the game. “He got hit in a strange spot. We’ll evaluate it.”

Eberle, who signed a five-year, $27.5MM contract during the offseason, had three assists in his first five games. However, the team would lose an impact top-six player from their lineup. One possibility would be for the Islanders to recall top prospect Oliver Wahlstrom, who has a goal and three points in four games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL.

  • In the same article, Gross notes that Islanders prospect Joshua Ho-Sang who has requested a trade after not making the Islanders’ opening day lineup, still hasn’t reported to the Sound Tigers in the AHL per instructions from president and general manager Lou Lamoriello. He was requested to stay away from the team while the Islanders looked for trade partners, but no trade has been made and the 23-year-old has been sitting for two weeks so far. Lamoriello said on Friday that there was still no update. Ho-Sang has languished in the AHL for three years, but because of a questionable reputation, was not claimed when New York passed him through waivers.
  • The Buffalo Sabres could have a logjam at defense once they get back some of their injured players, including Brandon Montour, Zach Bogosian and Lawrence Pilut. While they aren’t yet ready to return, the team is already loaded with depth at that position. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski, in his mailbag column, writes that the easy answer would have been for the team to send Henri Jokiharju down to the AHL after Montour is ready to return from his hand injury. However, Lysowski reports that Jokiharju has been told be management to find a place to live in Buffalo as it looks like he’s expected to stay with the Sabres long-term.
  • Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville has been mixing up his line combinations after the team struggled out of the gate, especially on offense, according to George Richards of The Athletic (subscription required). One find for the head coach has been winger Denis Malgin, who jumped into the lineup on Friday, replacing 22-year-old Henrik Borgstrom on the third line. The coach was impressed enough that Borgstrom was back in the press box a second night on Saturday as Queeneville moved Malgin to the second line where he immediately scored a goal.

Minor Transactions: 10/03/19

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The NHL regular season is underway, and the stars have already made their mark. Auston Matthews showed why he’s a perfect prop bet in season-openers by scoring his eighth and ninth goals through four opening games, while Connor McDavid showed that his knee is just fine as he cut through the Vancouver Canucks defense for the game-winner late in Edmonton. Eight more games are on the schedule for tonight including Jacob Trouba’s first test against his former club and a top tier matchup between the Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche. As teams prepare, we’ll be right here keeping track of all the moves.

  • The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Victor Olofsson and Henri Jokiharju as expected, while sending Jean-Sebastien Dea, Curtis Lazar and Lawrence Pilut back to the Rochester Americans of the AHL. These moves had been done just as some cap gymnastics to get Buffalo the most room possible, and were always expected to be reversed before they start their season in Pittsburgh tonight.
  • After keeping Timothy Liljegren on the opening night roster, the Toronto Maple Leafs have sent the top prospect back to the minor leagues. Liljegren was kept up for salary cap purposes, but will switch spots with the recently-waived Nic Petan today. Petan should serve as one of the extra forwards for the Maple Leafs that might rotate in, alongside Jason Spezza who was a healthy scratch last night.
  • Manuel Wiederer has been assigned to the San Jose Barracuda, where he is expected to spend the season. The 22-year old forward suffered an upper-body injury earlier in the preseason, but is likely recovered enough to rejoin his teammates now that he has officially been sent down.
  • With Sam Steel and Ondrej Kase being cleared ahead of tonight’s home opener, the Anaheim Ducks have opened up space on the roster by reassigning Isac Lundestrom and Max Comtois to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. Lundestrom and Comtois, as well as Steel, a part of a large group of impressive young NHL-ready forwards pushing for ice time this season. This is certainly not the last you’ll hear of them this year.

Minor Transactions: 10/01/19

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Teams all around the league are setting their opening day rosters to get cap compliant, while minor league clubs are still out finalizing their groups for the upcoming season. We’ll be right here to keep track of all those moves like always:

Training Camp Cuts: 09/30/19

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Teams will be finalizing their opening day rosters today, meaning that plenty of players will be removed from training camp. As always, we’ll keep track of all those cuts right here. Keep checking back as this list will be updated throughout the day.

Arizona Coyotes (per team release)

G Adin Hill (to Tuscon, AHL)

Boston Bruins (per team release)

F Peter Cehlarik (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Anders Bjork (to Providence, AHL)
F Trent Frederic (to Providence, AHL)
F Jack Studnicka (to Providence, AHL)
F Cameron Hughes (to Providence, AHL)
G Maxime Lagace (to Providence, AHL)

Buffalo Sabres (per team release)

F Remi Elie (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Curtis Lazar (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Scott Wilson (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Casey Nelson (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Rasmus Asplund (to Rochester, AHL)
F Tage Thompson (to Rochester, AHL)
D Lawrence Pilut (to Rochester, AHL)

Chicago Blackhawks (per team release)

F Anton Wedin (to Rockford, AHL)
D Dennis Gilbert (to Rockford, AHL)

Columbus Blue Jackets (per team release)

F Marko Dano (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Eric Robinson (to Cleveland, AHL)
G Hayden Stewart (released from PTO)

Edmonton Oilers (per team release)

F Sam Gagner (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Brandon Manning (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D William Lagesson (to Bakersfield, AHL)

Los Angeles Kings (per team release)

F Mario Kempe (to Ontario, AHL)
D Paul Ladue (to Ontario, AHL)
D Derek Forbort (designated injured/non-roster)

Minnesota Wild (per team release)

F J.T. Brown (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Louie Belpedio (to Iowa, AHL)

Montreal Canadiens (per team release)

F Charles Hudon (to Laval, AHL)
G Charlie Lindgren (to Laval, AHL)

New Jersey Devils (per team release)

D Jeremy Groleau (to Binghamton, AHL)

New York Rangers (per team release)

F Boo Nieves (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Filip Chytil (to Hartford, AHL)
F Vitali Kravtsov (to Hartford, AHL)
F Vinni Lettieri (to Hartford, AHL)
D Ryan Lindgren (to Hartford, AHL)
G Igor Shesterkin (to Hartford, AHL)
D Tarmo Reunanen (to Lukko, Liiga)
D Joseph Morrow (released from PTO)

Tampa Bay Lightning (per team release)

D Luke Schenn (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Danick Martel (to Syracuse, AHL)
F Alexander Volkov (to Syracuse, AHL)

Toronto Maple Leafs (per team release)

F Kenny Agostino (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Nic Petan (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Garrett Wilson (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Kevin Gravel (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Kalle Kossila (designated injured, non-roster)
F Mason Marchment (designated injured, non-roster)
F Egor Korshkov (to Toronto, AHL)
F Matt Read (released from PTO, signs AHL contract)

Vancouver Canucks (per team release)

F Sven Baertschi (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Nikolay Goldobin (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Alex Biega (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)

Vegas Golden Knights (per team release)

F Keegan Kolesar (to Chicago, AHL)
D Jake Bischoff (to Chicago, AHL)

Winnipeg Jets (per team release)

F J.C. Lipon (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Nelson Nogier (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
G Eric Comrie (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Joona Luoto (to Manitoba, AHL)
F C.J. Suess (to Manitoba, AHL)

Washington Capitals (per team release)

F Liam O’Brien (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Michael Sgarbossa (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Christian Djoos (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Shane Gersich (to Hershey, AHL)

Training Camp Notes: Byfuglien, Dach, Perry

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Winnipeg Jets today announced that Dustin Byfuglien has been granted a leave of absence from the team and will not be participating at the start of training camp. Head coach Paul Maurice and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff both explained that it is not injury related and that it is “nothing sinister.” There is no timetable for his return, but hopefully he can get whatever it is sorted out quickly.

More notes from around training camp:

  • The Chicago Blackhawks have given an update on the status of top prospect Kirby Dach after he was removed from a game during the prospect tournament recently. Dach is in the concussion protocol and will not be in the Blackhawks lineup when they start their exhibition schedule. Philipp Kurashev, who left the same game (along with two others), will not practice today with left knee and shoulder contusions. Calvin de Haan, who is still recovering from shoulder surgery, also now has a groin strain and is expected to be out for another two to three weeks.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have officially announced that Zach Bogosian, Matt Hunwick, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Lawrence Pilut will not take part in training camp due to injury. These had been previously reported, but it is still disappointing for a player like Pilut who has a chance to make a big impact on the NHL club this season.
  • Nolan Patrick wasn’t on the ice when the Philadelphia Flyers opened camp, sidelined with an upper-body injury according to Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. After missing much of his draft season with various injuries, Patrick has battled minor ailments through each of his first two NHL seasons but still managed to play in 145 games. Still waiting for his breakout, missing camp would be a frustrating outcome for the 20-year old forward.
  • Though all the questions were about Julis Honka’s trade request, the Dallas Stars also announced that Corey Perry has a small fracture in his foot and will be reevaluated in two weeks according to Sean Shapiro of The Athletic. That isn’t a good start for Perry in Dallas where he’s trying to revitalize his career following a buyout from the Anaheim Ducks.

Evening Notes: Hanzal, Pominville, Pilut

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Last season, the Dallas Stars freed up some cap space at the trade deadline by placing both Martin Hanzal and Marc Methot on LTIR, which allowed the team to go out and acquire New York Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello and Pittsburgh’s Jamie Oleksiak. While Methot’s contract has expired, the team still has Hanzal under contract for one more season and while his on-ice contributions are in question with recurring back issues, his contract could help the team once again.

According to Dallasnews.com’s Matthew DeFranks, the team may be able to do something similar. Hanzal hasn’t played any hockey since before last Christmas and has appeared in only 45 games since signing a three-year, $14.25MM deal back in 2017. However, while there are quite a few variables when dealing with LTIR, the Stars could conceivably open up between $4-5MM in cap space during the season and use that to acquire a player.

DeFranks lists a number of potential targets, including T.J. Brodie, Chris Kreider, Tyler Toffoli, Craig Smith, Evgenii Dadonov, Vladislav Namestnikov and Jake Muzzin.

  • In his most recent mailbag column, the Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski writes that it’s highly unlikely the Buffalo Sabres will be bringing back veteran forward and current unsigned unrestricted free agent Jason Pominville, even if it’s on a tryout basis. At 36 years old, Pominville still seems to have something to give after posting 16 goals and 31 points last season, but after adding Jimmy Vesey and Marcus Johansson to their roster and with a number of young forwards looking to step up, including Tage Thompson, Victor Olofsson and C.J. Smith, there really isn’t space for Pominville. The team did opt to keep Johan Larsson and Zemgus Girgensons as fourth-line options, where they could have retained Pominville, but both Larsson and Girgensons have penalty kill experience, while Pominville doesn’t.
  • Sticking with the Sabres, The Athletic’s Joe Yerdon (subscription required) wonders whether Buffalo Sabres defenseman Lawrence Pilut could be ready to immediately jump in as the team’s No. 2 defenseman on the left side. Pilut, despite recovering from offseason shoulder injury and might miss some time early in the season, played just 33 games for Buffalo, posting a goal and six points, and impressed with his corsi-for with a 53.2 percent, only behind Brandon Montour. The 23-year-old proved in Rochester that he can be a dependable blueliner in his own end. The question is whether he’s ready for the same role in Buffalo.

Lawrence Pilut Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Buffalo Sabres have a lot to look forward to in young defenseman Lawrence Pilut, but will have to wait a little bit longer to see his full potential. The team announced today that Pilut has undergone shoulder surgery and will be out for five to six months. That means Pilut will miss training camp and likely the start of the 2019-20 regular season.

Pilut, 23, showed extremely well in his first season in North America, splitting time between the Sabres and Rochester Americans of the AHL. During his time in the minor leagues the undrafted Swedish defenseman absolutely dominated the competition, recording 26 points in 30 games while finishing a +22 on one of the league’s best squads. His transition to the NHL didn’t result in as many points—just six in 33 games—but he showed that he was more than capable of performing at the top level.

Signed out of the SHL in 2018 but has just one year remaining on his entry-level contract. That year could very well be cut short, but there’s good reason to believe he will join the Sabres full-time when his recovery is over. Buffalo is also going to be without Zach Bogosian for the start of the season thanks to another hip surgery, leaving their current group shorthanded. Still, there may be changes coming for the Sabres blue line which simply hasn’t been good enough in recent years. While Rasmus Dahlin is obviously a star in the making, his supporting cast needs an upgrade if the team is really expecting to make the playoffs and contend for the Stanley Cup next season.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top