Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Michael Leighton

Morning Notes: Three Stars, Leighton, Morrissey

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The NHL has released their Three Stars for the first week of the season, and New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad leads the way. Zibanejad leads the NHL with eight points through his first two games, including a hat-trick on the weekend against the Ottawa Senators. The Rangers are off to a fast 2-0 start in a season that they hope will end in a playoff run for the young squad, and Zibanejad will be a huge part of that process.

Anthony Mantha and Auston Matthews take home the other two spots after scoring five goals each in their first week. Mantha did it in just two games, including a four-goal performance last night against the Dallas Stars. The 25-year old winger is looking to build off his career-high 25 goals a year ago, which he recorded in just 67 games. Matthews meanwhile continues his October dominance, scoring in each of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ first three contests. The 22-year old center now has 30 goals in 35 career games in the month of October.

  • Michael Leighton has decided to hang up his pads after a long professional career, announcing his retirement through Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required). The veteran goaltender played for 21 different teams over an 18-year career, suiting up 111 times in the NHL regular season. Perhaps most notably though was his appearance for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 playoffs, where he started 13 games and recorded a .916 save percentage. The Flyers would lose in the Stanley Cup Final to the Chicago Blackhawks, with Patrick Kane scoring his classic Cup-winning goal in overtime of game six against Leighton.
  • Josh Morrissey returned to practice for the Winnipeg Jets today, and his presence will be welcomed wholeheartedly whenever he’s able to suit up for a game. The Jets defense has been ravaged by everything from free agency, to injury and even potential retirement, leaving Morrissey as the most important blueliner on the team. The team is back in action tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, before returning home for a game on Thursday night.

Free Agent Profile: Scott Darling

at CDT | by 13 Comments

Veteran goaltender Cam Ward called it a career today, signing a one-day contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, who he served for 13 seasons to begin his NHL career. The 35-year-old finally moved on from the Hurricanes last season, but struggled in a backup role with the Chicago Blackhawks. With his numbers slipping and age catching up with him, Ward decided now was the time to retire.

Interestingly enough, Ward’s failed replacement in Carolina, Scott Darling, also remains an unsigned free agent, waiting for a market to develop. Just two UFA goaltenders – Anthony Stolarz and Jared Coreau – have signed an NHL contract since July 2nd and no goalie has been inked in 50 days. The market is dead quiet, but Ward’s exit leaves Darling as the obvious top name if a team does come calling. Darling, 30, is just hoping at this point that he too doesn’t have to consider retirement.

It was not long ago that Darling was actually considered one of the best backup goaltenders in the NHL. A 2007 draft pick, Darling was a slow-developing prospect who played another year of juniors, two years in college, and four years bouncing around the minors before he ever saw NHL action. However, when he broke through in 2014-15 with the Chicago Blackhawks, he immediately impressed. Darling spent three seasons as the backup to Corey Crawford, with his role increasing each year, and in total posted 39 wins, a .923 save percentage, and a 2.37 GAA in 75 appearances.

The Hurricanes believed they were getting a bargain when they acquired Darling for a third-round pick in the summer of 2017 and signed him to a four-year, $16.6MM contract. However, it quickly became clear that the star backup was not cut out to be a starter. Darling was unable to overtake Ward despite ample opportunity, posting an .888 save percentage and 3.18 GAA in 43 appearances. Darling made 40 starts to Ward’s 42 and was outplayed by the aging veteran, which is not what either he nor Carolina had hoped for.

The ‘Canes essentially cleaned house last summer, letting Ward walk in free agency and burying Darling in the AHL, replacing them with the far more effective duo of Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney. Darling did make eight spot starts for Carolina this past season, but somehow performed even worse than he did the year prior. In the minors, Darling sat behind lauded prospect Alex Nedeljkovic and when he did get a chance to play – he made just 14 appearances – the results were just as bad if not worse than his NHL performance. Not wanting to be weighed down by Darling’s $4.15MM cap hit any longer, the team traded him to the Florida Panthers this off-season along with a sixth-round draft pick for a new backup in James Reimer. The Panthers quickly bought out Darling, making him a free agent.

Potential Suitors

It has now been more than two years since anyone has been impressed by Darling’s efforts on the ice. With that said, the free agent market at goalie is slim pickings, with Darling easily headlining a group that includes Michal Neuvirth – who has signed a PTO with the Toronto Maple Leafs – Chad Johnson, Al Montoya, and Michael Leighton. Each of those players is both older than Darling and was last considered a legitimate NHL option far prior to Darling’s downfall. Darling is simply the best of a poor group, but is looking for redemption. Unlike Ward, Darling will have no expectations of any role or guaranteed play time. He will instead be looking for an opportunity to show that he can still be an effective NHL backup, likely by seeking a third-string role with the chance to battle for play time at the top level.

Accepting a role such as this could open some opportunities for Darling, especially once training camp begins. Injuries to starters or backups can shift the paradigm for an NHL team and leave them searching or an experienced option. The Vegas Golden Knights, Anaheim Ducks, and Philadelphia Flyers are examples of teams with shallow depth in net and injury concerns who could turn to Darling in the even of an incident.

It’s also very possible that several teams are already aware of their weaknesses in goal and simply waiting to see how their current keepers look in training camp and the preseason and potentially even early on the in the regular season. The Columbus Blue Jackets are the one team that everyone is focused on in net, as the team is set to have former backup Joonas Korpisalo and newly-signed European prospect Elvis Merzlikins begin the year as a young, unproven tandem. Early concerns could lead to Columbus looking for additional support, with Darling as the top option other than trade or waivers. The Colorado Avalanche are also in need of depth in net. Their top two of Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz are likely to be fine this season, but the lack of any other experienced name behind them could be a cause for pause, especially given this will be Francouz’ first full NHL season.

Ironically, the Florida Panthers are one final team that could be in the goalie market and would have been a good fit for Darling. The team understandably bought out Darling’s hefty contract, but could’ve actually used a player of his experience. The Panthers spent big on Sergei Bobrovsky’s this summer and will likely ask him to start 65+ games this season, but young Samuel Montembeault is currently slated to be his backup with other untested prospects behind him. Montembeault’s performance in the backup role, as well as the effect on his development of sitting so often, could lead the Panthers to search for a veteran option. Darling won’t be the answer now, but one has to wonder if the two sides connected at all prior to what was clearly an orchestrated trade-and-dump.

Projected Contract

It’s nearly September and teams are getting ready for training camp, yet Darling still sits without a contract. At this point, he will receive a PTO or nothing. Even if he proves himself in camp, it will likely only result in a minimum $700K NHL cap hit on a one-year, two-way deal. If that’s what it takes to climb his back way into the NHL though, Darling will surely take it. After all, he’s receiving a nice pay check from the Panthers for four more years anyway.

Four Players Placed On Waivers

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Wednesday: Eaves, McCollum and Leighton have all cleared waivers. Haley was claimed by the San Jose Sharks.

Tuesday: Four players have been placed on waivers. Patrick Eaves of the Anaheim Ducks and Micheal Haley of the Florida Panthers are on regular waivers, while goaltenders Thomas McCollum and Michael Leighton have both signed NHL contracts for the rest of the season and were required to be put through the process. McCollum’s two-way deal with the Nashville Predators will see him earn a prorated $650K at the NHL level ($100K in the AHL) for the rest of the season, while Leighton’s contract with the Vancouver Canucks will carry the same NHL salary.

Eaves is perhaps the most surprising of the group, given the excitement over his arrival in Anaheim at the end of the 2016-17 season. The veteran forward found a perfect fit with the Ducks and scored 11 goals down the stretch for them, finishing with a career-high of 32 on the season. Unfortunately, things took a disastrous turn last season when Eaves was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome and played just two games for the Ducks. This year has been marred by injury after injury, leading to just seven games played by the 34-year old winger.

With another season remaining on his three-year, $9.45MM contract it will be hard for any team to justify a claim on Eaves, who doesn’t have a point this year. With that in mind, using waivers will give the Ducks a chance to move him back and forth if need be.

Vancouver has been strapped for goaltending help since trading away Anders Nilsson and losing Mike McKenna on waivers, and Leighton has done enough to deserve an NHL deal. The 37-year old netminder has a .912 save percentage over four games with the Utica Comets and will likely serve as emergency insurance for the Canucks down the stretch.

Vancouver Finds Short-Term Solution With Michael Leighton

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Vancouver Canucks have had a goaltending problem since trading Anders Nilsson. No, it’s certainly not the play of Jacob Markstrom who was remarkable earlier this week in a win over the Florida Panthers, stopping 23 of 24 shots. It’s not with Thatcher Demko either, who has still yet to start a game in the NHL this year but is one of the better goaltending prospects in the league. It’s that there was no one behind those two.

Mike McKenna, the goaltender that Vancouver received in return from the Ottawa Senators was almost immediately lost on waivers, and minor league netminder Richard Bachman is out long-term with an injury. That left exactly two healthy goaltenders under NHL contracts in the Vancouver organization, and a huge hole with the Utica Comets of the AHL. Today, that hole in Utica was plugged temporarily. The Comets signed veteran goaltender Michael Leighton to a professional tryout contract, giving them an experienced professional to throw into the crease for the time being.

This is clearly not a long-term solution for Vancouver, who couldn’t call up the 37-year old Leighton if they needed to without first signing him to an NHL contract. Even then, asking a goaltender who hasn’t played regularly in the NHL since 2010 would be foolhardy, especially with the Canucks still holding onto an outside chance at the playoffs this season. There obviously has to be another move coming to address the lack of depth, but for now at least there is a goaltender to rely on at the AHL level.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Transactions: 11/17/18

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

As usual, Saturday is a busy day on the schedule with 22 teams in action so there will likely be considerable roster movement throughout the day.  We’ll keep tabs on those moves here.

  • The Devils announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Eric Gryba from AHL Binghamton. To make room for him on the roster, they placed blueliner Sami Vatanen on injured reserve retroactive to Thursday.  Gryba has been up and down so far this season; he made the team out of training camp but was waived in mid-October and this will be his second stint with New Jersey since clearing.
  • With their goaltending depth quickly getting depleted with their top three options injured or sick, the Kings have inked veteran Michael Leighton to a minor league PTO per a team release from their AHL affiliate in Ontario. The 37-year-old has yet to play this season and spent time in three different organizations in 2017-18.  CapFriendly adds via Twitter that Cole Kehler, who was brought up on an emergency recall on Friday, has been sent back to Ontario.
  • The Coyotes announced that they’ve recalled center Mario Kempe from AHL Tucson. The 30-year-old has been quite productive in the minors with nine points in eight games while he has also seen action in four games with Arizona this season where he has been held off the scoresheet.  To make room for him on the roster, Jason Demers was transferred to injured reserve.
  • The Sharks have recalled center Dylan Gambrell from the minors and assigned center Rourke Chartier to San Jose of the AHL, per the AHL’s Transactions Page.  Chartier has just a single goal in 13 games with the Sharks this season so he’ll go down with the hopes that some more ice time at the lower level will help him rediscover his scoring touch.  Meanwhile, Gambrell has been productive in his limited time with the Barracuda, recording six points in seven games.  He also has one game with the big club where he failed to record a point.
  • Dallas announced that they have brought up defenseman Ben Gleason and center Roope Hintz from Texas of the AHL.  Hintz leads their affiliate in points per game (1.22) and has seen action in five games with the big club this season although he has been held without a point.  Meanwhile, Gleason made his NHL debut last weekend but was returned to Texas on Tuesday.  He has fared quite well at the minor league level in his rookie campaign, collecting eight points in 13 games.
  • With their road trip now complete, the Maple Leafs have returned winger Trevor Moore to the AHL’s Marlies.  Moore has been up twice with the NHL team so far this season but has yet to play in a game.  He has been quite productive in the minors though, collecting a dozen points (including nine goals) in as many games to start his season.
  • The Penguins announced that they’ve re-assigned winger Garrett Wilson back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.  The move was made to free up a roster spot for center Derick Brassard as he was activated off injured reserve.  Wilson played in four games with Pittsburgh, his first NHL action since the 2015-16 season with Florida.

Penguins Recall 13 Players From AHL

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have recalled 13 players to serve as Black Aces from their AHL team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who were eliminated from the AHL playoffs Thursday. The AHL team was swept out of the first round by the Charlotte Checkers, with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team falling in a 7-3 defeat in their third game.

The team recalled seven forwards, including Josh Jooris, Daniel Sprong, Thomas Di Pauli, Adam Johnson, Teddy Blueger, Garrett Wilson and Jean-Sebastien Dea. They also brought up four defensemen, adding Lukas Bengtsson, Chris Summers, Jarred Tinordi and Andrey Pedan. The team also recalled goaltenders Tristan Jarry and Michael Leighton.

Sprong stands out amongst the Penguins prospects. The 21-year-old 2015 second rounder got into eight games with Pittsburgh earlier this season while the team was hit with injuries and needed depth help. He scored two goals and an added an assist. The hope is that the prospects gain as much knowledge as possible while being around the Penguins throughout their playoff run.

“Whenever a young player has an opportunity to be around a team like ours and watch how our veteran players carry themselves during and between games – it’s a great learning opportunity,” said Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan. “Our guys have had a great chance to soak it all in.”

 

Tampa Bay Places Budaj On IR, Recalls Domingue

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without their backup goalie for a little while as the team placed Peter Budaj on injured reserve Saturday, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. The veteran goaltender started Friday and played well, stopping 29 of 33 shots, but needed to be helped off the ice after sustaining an apparent leg injury and was replaced by starter Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Despite playing well Friday behind a struggling defense, the 35-year-old Budaj’s overall numbers have been disappointing. In seven appearances, he has a 3.80 GAA and a .878 save percentage. No one is quite sure how long Budaj will be out, but the veteran was reportedly already walking on his own after the game Friday, according to Smith. He will have to miss the team’s next three games, but could be back on the roster for the Jan. 6 game against the Ottawa Senators.

Louis Domingue has been recalled from the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL to replace him.  Domingue started the year as the backup in Arizona, but struggled with a 4.33 GAA and a .856 save percentage in seven appearances and then was swapped to Tampa Bay for goaltender Michael Leighton and journeyman Tye McGinn. The 25-year-old was sent to Syracuse in hopes of finding his game, which he did. He has a 2.39 GAA in 13 games for the Crunch with a .911 save percentage.

Veteran Free Agent Contracts Not Working Out Well In 2017-18

at CDT | by 2 Comments

There is no doubt that the game of hockey is getting faster and, as a result, younger. Yet, in 2016-17 that didn’t stop 44-year-old ageless wonder Jaromir Jagr from outscoring his age, 40-year-old Matt Cullen and 37-year-old Chris Kunitz from contributing to a second straight Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup title, 39-year-old Zdeno Chara from skating in more than 23 minutes per game, or 36-year-old Henrik Zetterberg and 37-year-old Joe Thornton from finishing among the league’s best in assists. Several teams who witnessed the impact that older players had on their teams last year went out and signed older free agents this summer in hopes of a repeat performance. It hasn’t happened for most of those teams. The majority of players age 36 and older who signed with new teams this off-season have struggled to meet expectations.

Jagr, of course, is the poster boy of the anti-youth movement. The 28-year NHL veteran has somehow remained consistent throughout his career even into his mid-40’s, but despite a 46-point campaign last year, got little attention this summer and it looked like his illustrious career was over. However, the Calgary Flames swooped in at the last minute, signing Jagr to a one-year deal in early October. At $2MM for the year, it was a low-risk, high-upside singing. Yet, through 36 games, that upside has not shown up. Jagr has only been healthy for 19 games, in which he has only one goal and six assists. Even if Jagr was magically healthy for each of the Flames remaining games this season, he would be on pace for a career-worst 24 points. It seems that Jagr’s days are finally done.

He’s not alone though. The Penguins aging role players also decided to leave Pittsburgh this off-season, with Cullen heading home to Minnesota to join the Wild and Kunitz chasing a fourth Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Both players have been nothing short of a disappointment so far. Cullen, who was a major contributor to the Pens’ success last year as a dependable checking center and 30-point scorer. So far with the Wild, Cullen has been a non-factor offensively (7 points) and defensively (team worst -11) through 35 games and was even a healthy scratch earlier this month. Despite the incredible talent around him, Kunitz has just 10 points this season, a pace which is a far cry from his recent back-to-back 40-point seasons.

Who else is on the list? Defenseman Mark Streit was a complete disaster in Montreal, released by the Canadiens after just two games. Journeyman goalie Michael Leighton hasn’t done much better, already on his third team in 2017-18 and without an NHL appearance thus far. Despite the time-tested theory that Radim Vrbata always performs his best in Arizona, the aging scorer bolted the Coyotes for the Florida Panthers, who so far have only received 12 points and 29 games from the signing.

The jury is still out on a few veterans. Francois Beauchemin returned home to Anaheim this summer and many expected him to improve his game back on a familiar roster. While Beauchemin’s 7 points through 30 games pale in comparison to the better seasons of his career, it’s similar to the production he showed last year with the Colorado Avalanche. With the Ducks struggling as a team, it seems fair that Beauchemin’s play has also been a bit lacking. That hasn’t been the case for Ryan Miller, another aging addition in Anaheim. His .928 save percentage and 2.23 GAA has been very good. However, Miller has only gotten the win in four of his ten appearances and missed much of the early season due to injury. Miller has performed better than the rest of his team, but had he been healthy it may have reversed the Ducks’ fortunes early on. Matt Hendricks has already matched his point total with the Edmonton Oilers last season now with the Winnipeg Jets last season. He’s playing a valued energy role and the Jets likely don’t have many gripes. With that said, Hendricks needed only seven points to match that total from a down year in 2016-17 and has a been playing a less-physical game than he has in the past. Hendricks hasn’t been bad, but Winnipeg would undoubtedly rather see 2014-15 Hendricks, who posted 16 points and 220 hits.

The one team who has had great success with veteran signings in 2017-18 is the Toronto Maple Leafs. San Jose Sharks legend Patrick Marleau chose to sign in Toronto, leaving the only team he had ever played for, but the Leafs had to give him three years and $18.75MM to get it done. So far, it hasn’t been a bad investment. Marleau has 19 points in all 36 games, including 12 goals, and the 38-year-old should easily reach 40 points for the 18th time in his career. However, the real breakout veteran performance has been from the 36-year-old Ron Hainsey, whose signing was initially panned by many. Yet, Hainsey is on pace for one of, if not the best offensive campaigns of his career with 15 points so far. Forming a dynamic duo with Morgan Rielly, Hainsey seems rejuvenated late in his career and it has shown in an improvement on Toronto’s back end. But even the Leafs weren’t perfect though; the signing of Dominic Moore has been a disappointment. Moore has only nine points and has been a frequent scratch after a season with the division rival Boston Bruins in which he put up 25 points and played in all 82 games.

The NHL has been an increasingly difficult place for mediocre older players to find work. There has been a movement toward younger rosters, with veterans settling for minimum contracts, tryouts, or simply heading to Europe. Yet, exceptions continue to be made, especially for some talented older players. After the results this elderly free agent group has shown, veteran signings – especially those demanding big money and term – will surely become even less frequent.

Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire Michael Leighton From Arizona Coyotes

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Pittsburgh Penguins made a deal ahead of the trade freeze, acquiring Michael Leighton and a 2019 fourth-round pick (originally Minnesota’s) from the Arizona Coyotes. They’ll send back Josh Archibald, Sean Maguire and a 2019 sixth-round pick. Leighton will join his third organization of the season, after already being dealt from Tampa Bay to Arizona earlier this year.

While Leighton has a long history in professional hockey, he hasn’t played well during his tumultuous season so far and is an interesting move for a club that had reportedly been after goaltending depth. The fact that Maguire—younger and performing better in his split ECHL/AHL season—is going the other way means it’s not a clear upgrade in terms of raw talent in net.

Archibald, who may be the only player in the deal to spend any more time in the NHL this season, is a 25-year old undersized forward without a ton of upside. Though he was an excellent college player, Archibald hasn’t been able to find much success at the professional level.

For Pittsburgh, the upside to this deal isn’t readily apparent. While they do drop a contract of their roster limit, they already had quite a few spots free. Moving up a couple of rounds in the draft and gaining some minor league experience in net is at least worth something, but Archibald is a useful extra player and Maguire clearly has more upside than Leighton at this point in their respective careers.

We’ll have to wait and see what Pittsburgh has in store, which could potentially include another goaltender move or something that needed Archibald’s active roster spot. The young forward isn’t waiver-exempt any longer, meaning Pittsburgh could have lost him if they tried to send him to the minor leagues.

Tampa Bay Lightning Acquire Louis Domingue

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired recently demoted goaltender Louis Domingue from the Arizona Coyotes, sending Michael Leighton and Tye McGinn to the desert in return. Domingue’s role as the backup had been usurped by Scott Wedgewood, and he’ll now have to find his game somewhere else.

Louis DomingueOf course that likely won’t be in Tampa Bay, at least not right away. The Lightning have Andrei Vasilevskiy and Peter Budaj locked in as their NHL duo for the time being, while Leighton had been starting for the Syracuse Crunch. Still, it could be just the fresh start Domingue needs to get his game back on track. At one point in the past, Domingue was an up-and-coming goaltender that looked poised to take on at least a part-time role in the NHL. He posted acceptable numbers over the last two years behind a bad Coyotes team, but saw his play fall off this year.

Interestingly like Dominuge, Leighton doesn’t have a clear place to play in the Coyotes organization. The Tucson Roadrunners, Arizona’s AHL affiliate, already have three goaltenders on the roster in Hunter Miska, Adin Hill and Marek Langhamer. Perhaps the 36-year old Leighton will be loaned somewhere else.

The only forward in the deal is McGinn, who hasn’t seen the NHL since 2015-16. Though he’s an effective minor league player, his NHL career has been less than impressive. In 89 career games he has 17 points, but has little upside at the age of 27. Still, he could find his way into the Coyotes lineup at some point if they continue to struggle this season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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

scroll to top