Minor Transactions: 01/12/18
The NHL has five more contests on the schedule for tonight, including the second half of a home-and-home between the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina took the first match 3-1 last night, and will look to make up more ground at tonight’s affair.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have just one game remaining until they take their five-day bye week, and have sent a pair of players down to the minor leagues in the meantime. Zac Dalpe and Dean Kukan are on their way back to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, where the latter will play in the AHL All-Star game later this month.
- Maxim Mamin‘s time with the Florida Panthers has come to an end for now, as he’s headed back to the AHL. Like the Blue Jackets, the Panthers will be going on their break after tonight’s game against the Calgary Flames and want Mamin to continue to play.
- Travis Boyd has been recalled by the Washington Capitals, giving them another option in their second game in two nights as several players battle injury and illness. Boyd has played two games with the Capitals this season, but has yet to score his first NHL point.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Casey DeSmith from the AHL, which likely means an injury of some sort for Matthew Murray or Tristan Jarry. The Penguins play tomorrow afternoon against the Detroit Red Wings, before welcoming the New York Rangers in on Sunday.
- Philadelphia has recalled Tyrell Goulbourne once again, bringing up the young winger prior to their game tomorrow against New Jersey. The Flyers have given Goulbourne two games so far this season, but he’s played extremely sparingly in them. He’s still looking for his first NHL point.
- As the Buffalo Sabres head into their bye week, both Brendan Guhle and Linus Ullmark have been returned to the Rochester Americans. It’s not clear if either will return after the week is up, but with the Sabres seemingly accepting their disappointing fate of another missed playoff opportunity it wouldn’t be surprising.
- After enjoying their week off, the Rangers have recalled Vinni Lettieri from the minor leagues prior to their game tomorrow. Lettieri continued to play in the AHL while the team had their bye week, staying fresh during his first full season of professional hockey. The 22-year old has made an impact in the minor leagues and NHL so far, recording 23 points in 35 games across the two levels.
- Kevin Gravel is up for the third time this season, as the Los Angeles Kings recalled the young defenseman today. Gravel has suited up for just three games, being used more as an insurance policy than key player. Coming off the bye, the Kings have three straight games on home ice including a pair against teams chasing them in the Pacific Division.
- Ondrej Kase and Jared Boll are back from the minor leagues now that the Anaheim Ducks are finished their bye week. It’s interesting that Boll gets the recall instead of Kevin Roy, who was sent down along with Kase when the week off began, but with Corey Perry back in the lineup Roy will get top minutes at the AHL level and stay ready for his next opportunity.
- Brett Pesce has been moved to injured reserve by the Carolina Hurricanes, and in his roster spot the team has recalled Lucas Wallmark. Wallmark, 22, has played just two games with the Hurricanes this season, but recorded his first NHL goal last month. He obviously won’t help fill the role of Pesce, but could contribute up front if he makes it into the forward lineup at some point.
Victor Hedman Leaves Game With Lower Body Injury
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced via Twitter that star defenseman Victor Hedman will not return after sustaining a lower body injury during the second period.
Bryan Burns, who writes for the team, indicated that Hedman needed assistance to leave the ice after a knee-to-knee hit by Calgary’s Garnet Hathaway. Hedman hasn’t missed a game all season, and as Burns notes, the loss is a major blow for the league leaders. The anchor of the Bolts’ blue line, players, fans, and staff will be holding their breath to see just how bad the injury turns out to be. The Score’s Ian McLaren tweeted a video of the hit.
A prolonged loss of Hedman would certainly put a dent in the Bolts’ hopes for a deep playoff run. Though the team has depth, losing a player of Hedman’s caliber is difficult–if not near impossible–to replace. Should it be a lengthy injury, it will be interesting to see how general manager Steve Yzerman plays his cards to replace such a significant loss.
Evening Snapshots: Slepyshev, Holland
As it was reported earlier, the Edmonton Journal’s Bruce McCurdy believes that Anton Slepyshev‘s availability is a “fire sale” sign that Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli has displayed for the entire league. McCurdy opines that the Oilers “appear poised to part company with yet another talented young Russian for pennies on the dollar.” Arguments abound for and against such a decision, with the former being that the young forward struggled with injuries and didn’t put together enough “excellent” nights to justify his keep. The latter argument poses that the youngster received an ample chance to display what he could do. Given little to no opportunity on special teams and logging limited minutes, McCurdy writes that the Russian posted impressive numbers during those limited chances–fleshed out further by advanced metrics. To be fair, McCurdy points out that only 40% of the Oilers goals occurred when Slepyshev was on the ice while his “pedestrian” numbers of 1 goal, and 3 points do little to help his case. While it appears to be another young player that the Oilers will ship out, one can only wonder how much longer the front office and coaching staff have before they’re the next to be booted.
- The Detroit News’ Bob Wojnowski guesses that the writing is on the wall for the Red Wings. All that’s left to decipher is who the architect will be for the inevitable rebuild: Ken Holland or someone else. Wojnowski writes that the Red Wings are no longer the elite team that will make a yearly playoff visit, but at least have some hope in the futures of Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, and Anthony Mantha. Wojnowski quotes Holland as saying the Wings will either “stay pat or sell” at the deadline. Holland adds that he’s not in it for a rebuild (something he’s been consistently saying) and his job is to keep the team competitive. But he’s also not naive:
“I’ve been very fortunate to watch some great players on great teams, and I want to do that again. Sometimes your time runs out, but there is a plan, and we’re on our way back. Up until two years ago, we were making moves for the today, we weren’t bad enough to make moves for the future. At some point, you’re gonna pay the piper.”
Whether Detroit chooses to go forward with Holland or someone different remains to be seen. But even the executive who doesn’t want to go through a “painful” rebuild realizes that the days of buying, instead of selling, are over.
New York Islanders Recall Three Players From AHL
The New York Islanders have recalled three players from Bridgeport in the AHL, bringing up Michael Dal Colle and Anthony Beauvillier on emergency conditions, and Sebastian Aho under normal conditions.
While Beauvillier and Aho both have had stints with the Islanders previously, the most interesting name may be Dal Colle. Selected fifth overall in the 2014 draft, Dal Colle has yet to make it to the NHL during his professional career. Instead, he’s now played 114 games at the AHL level, scoring 60 points in the process.
Though there is no guarantee he gets into a game this time around, seeing him up with the NHL squad will be a welcome sight for many New York fans who have been waiting for his debut. Dal Colle is one of just two players from the first round of the 2014 draft yet to make an NHL appearance, and is well behind his contemporaries at the top of the draft.
The emergency recalls likely mean that Andrew Ladd and Josh Bailey, both of whom sat out recently with injuries, will not return when the Islanders take on the New York Rangers on Saturday night. Neither has been placed on injured reserve.
Edmonton Makes Anton Slepyshev Available In Trade
The Edmonton Oilers are experiencing a disappointing season, and have been considering which direction they will take at the trade deadline. Today, according to Mark Spector of Sportsnet, the team has informed the rest of the NHL about Anton Slepyshev‘s availability. As Spector points out, Slepyshev recently became waiver eligible.
Slepyshev, 23, has registered just three points this season in 18 contests for the Oilers, also spending time in the press box as a healthy scratch. The third-round pick from 2013 made his NHL debut two seasons ago, but hasn’t been able to lock down a full-time job with the club or replicate the offensive success he found in his final year in the KHL. In that 2014-15 season, Slepyshev recorded 15 goals and 25 points in 58 games, but he has just 14 points during his NHL career.
Still, there is some upside there to be had for a club looking for a big winger to help their bottom-six. Whether he’ll ever be able to contribute much offensively is still very much still up for debate, but he has recorded positive possession statistics this year and could still develop into something over the next few years.
The problem—one that Edmonton surely realizes—is that Slepyshev is set to become a restricted free agent this summer and has arbitration rights. A qualifying offer of just under $875K might be even too much for a club worried about salary structure to hand out, meaning there’s a chance he could become an unrestricted free agent anyway.
USA Hockey Names Final Two Olympic Goaltenders
When the US Olympic hockey team was announced at the Winter Classic, there was two conspicuously empty goaltending spots. Only Ryan Zaploski was named to the crease, and speculation ran wild on who the final two would be. USA Hockey has now released the names, selecting David Leggio and Brandon Maxwell to the team.
Leggio, 33, has been a professional netminder for a decade now since finishing his fourth year at Clarkson University. After bouncing around the AHL for several years, he headed for the German DEL in 2015, and has found quite a bit of success the last three years. Perhaps known best for the “Leggio Rule” where he would dislodge his own net during a scoring chance, giving the other team a penalty shot, he nevertheless has shown strong goaltending at many different levels.
Maxwell, 26, was a draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2009 and now plays in the Czech professional league. One of the best goaltenders in the league, he has a .921 save percentage this season through 28 games. He’ll likely enter the tournament as the number 3 option behind Zaploski and Leggio, but could be called upon if there is injury or inconsistency.
Michael Paliotta Traded To Texas Stars
The Toronto Marlies have traded minor-league defenseman Michael Paliotta to the Texas Stars for future considerations. Paliotta was signed to an AHL contract this summer, after spending last season in the New York Rangers organization on a two-way deal. This deal doesn’t rid the Maple Leafs of a contract since Paliotta was only on an AHL deal, meaning they are still at the 50-contract limit.
Selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round of the 2011 draft, Paliotta has just two NHL games under his belt. Last season he suited up for 52 contests with the Hartford Wolf Pack, scoring 14 points. The 24-year old had played just eight times for the Marlies on a crowded blueline this season, and should get more of an opportunity for Texas.
Snapshots: USA Hockey, Florida-Boston, Hyka
Recently young Colorado prospect Cale Makar turned down the opportunity to head to Pyeongchang with the Canadian Olympic squad, but as Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports, Troy Terry didn’t hesitate. Terry will be part of Team USA at the Games in the middle of another exceptional season at the University of Denver.
Interestingly, Chambers notes that USA Hockey was hesitant to select two players from the same college program meaning Dylan Gambrell—also having an excellent season with DU, scoring 27 points in 22 games—won’t be heading overseas. Gambrell, a second-round pick of the San Jose Sharks has scored at better than a point-per-game pace since he entered the NCAA.
- The Florida Panthers-Boston Bruins game that was cancelled due to inclement weather recently has been rescheduled for April 8th, extending the NHL season by one day. The original schedule had all teams finishing by April 7th, while the playoffs are set to begin on April 11th.
- Tomas Hyka has been added to the AHL All-Star roster in place of Brandon Pirri, an impressive accomplishment for the first-year player. Hyka was signed out of the Czech professional league in the offseason, and has 23 points in 26 AHL contests. He earned an NHL call-up in December, but didn’t get into a game for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Team Canada Announces Olympic Roster
Though we’ve already heard that one young player has turned down an offer to play for Canada at the upcoming Olympics, many others wouldn’t dream of passing on this chance. Today, Hockey Canada announced their roster for the Games, including many familiar NHL faces. The full roster can be found below:
G Justin Peters
G Kevin Poulin
G Ben Scrivens
D Stefan Elliott
D Chay Genoway
D Cody Goloubef
D Marc-Andre Gragnani
D Chris Lee
D Maxim Noreau
D Mat Robinson
D Karl Stollery
F Rene Bourque
F Gilbert Brule
F Andrew Ebbett
F Quinton Howden
F Chris Kelly
F Rob Klinkhammer
F Brandon Kozun
F Maxim Lapierre
F Eric O’Dell
F Mason Raymond
F Derek Roy
F Christian Thomas
F Linden Vey
F Wojtek Wolski
Morning Notes: Trade Bait, Golden Knights, Hurricanes
TSN’s Frank Seravalli released his updated “trade bait” board, and the name at the top once again is Buffalo’s Evander Kane. Kane was recently involved in a minor altercation at Sabres practice, and has a reported price tag of a first-round pick, prospect and conditional draft pick based on him re-signing with the acquiring team. Though Kane’s deal seems inevitable at this point, several other names on the list are interesting.
Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman appears fourth on the list, and fellow TSN insider Bob McKenzie believes a deal of the scoring forward is “more likely than not” at this point. Seravalli maintains that even though the Vegas Golden Knights are winning, James Neal remains a possible trade candidate, while Patrick Maroon seems like an easy rental piece after the Edmonton Oilers’ struggles this year.
- The US Army has filed a notice of opposition against the Golden Knights trademark, according to Chris Creamer of Sportslogos.net. Creamer has been all over this story since the beginning, noting that both the Army and the College of Saint Rose who each use the Golden Knights name, had filed extensions when the first trademark opposition deadline came about. Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated gives us the Vegas hockey team’s response, in which they “strongly dispute” the idea that there is any confusion between the army parachute team and the NHL club.
- The sale of a majority stake in the Carolina Hurricanes to new owner Thomas Dundon will close today according to Luke DeCock and Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. Dundon will be purchasing just over 51% of the club, with an option to buy the rest after three years from now-minority owner Peter Karmanos. While it’s not clear how exactly the deal will impact the team on the ice, it should provide some extra stability to the executive level.