Minor Transactions: 01/01/18
The 2018 portion of the season is underway, and with it teams can try to turn the page on whatever problems they faced last year. In places like Edmonton and Ottawa, perhaps the new year will bring success. As always, we’ll keep an eye on the minor transactions around the league and report them right here.
- Zac Dalpe has been recalled by the Columbus Blue Jackets on emergency conditions. With Sonny Milano and Jordan Schroeder already up on emergency loans, the Blue Jackets find themselves facing injuries all throughout their lineup. If Dalpe’s recall is due to another long-term injury, Columbus will have to decide whether they need to look outside the organization for help up front. After three straight losses in which they allowed 15 goals, their lead on several Metropolitan teams is starting to disappear.
- Though he was just recently sent down, the Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Dominik Simon from the minor leagues. To make room, the club has re-assigned Casey DeSmith, Andrey Pedan and Garrett Wilson. That could mean good news on the injury front, but we’ll likely have to wait until tomorrow’s morning skate to confirm any returns.
- The Florida Panthers have recalled Maxim Mamin from the minor leagues, giving the 22-year old forward a promotion for his solid play in the AHL this year. Mamin has 15 points in 23 games as a rookie for Springfield, after coming over from the KHL this season.
- The New York Islanders have sent both Anthony Beauvillier and Steve Bernier to the minor leagues, while recalling Tanner Fritz from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Fritz has never played in an NHL game, but is having quite the season with 35 points in 29 AHL games.
- Peter Cehlarik has been sent to the AHL now that he’s healthy and ready to play again, as the Boston Bruins don’t want to mix things up. The team is on a long hot streak and seem to have found a good recipe up front. Cehlarik, who has played in just five games for the Bruins this season, will head back to the minor leagues where he’s been extremely effective since coming over from Sweden.
- The Colorado Avalanche have called up A.J. Greer from the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage. With Sven Andrighetto day-to-day with a minor injury, Greer provides another option if he is unable to go. Greer, the Avs’ 2015 second-rounder, has just one point in six games with Colorado in 2017-18, but has ten in sixteen with San Antonio, on pace to set a new career-high in points in his second pro season. It may only be a matter of time before the power forward is a regular in Denver, with this promotion his newest opportunity to make his case.
USA Hockey Announces Olympic Rosters
During the second intermission of today’s Winter Classic matchup between the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres, USA Hockey took the opportunity to announce the Olympic roster for the upcoming Pyeongchang Games. The full roster for the men’s and women’s teams can be found below:
Men:
F Mark Arcobello
F Chris Bourque
F Bobby Butler
F Ryan Donato
F Brian Gionta (captain)
F Jordan Greenway
F Chad Kolarik
F Broc Little
F John McCarthy
F Brian O’Neill
F Garrett Roe
F Jim Slater
F Ryan Stoa
F Troy Terry
D Chad Billins
D Jonathon Blum
D Will Borgen
D Noah Welch
D James Wisniewski
D Bobby Sanguinetti
D Ryan Gunderson
D Matt Gilroy
Women:
F Monique Lamoureux-Morando
F Meghan Duggan (captain)
F Haley Skarupa
F Kelly Pannek
F Brianna Decker
F Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson
F Gigi Marvin
F Hannah Brandt
F Hilary Knight
F Amanda Pelkey
F Dani Cameranesi
F Kendall Coyne
F Amanda Kessel
D Sidney Morin
D Lee Stecklein
D Cayla Barnes
D Megan Keller
D Kali Flanagan
D Kacey Bellamy
D Emily Pfalzer
2017 Year In Review: December
2017 was quite a busy year in the hockey world. There was been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the last month, PHR has taken a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. You can find the first 11 installments here: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. Last up on the list will be December to remember.
Russian Involvement: In an expected but still shocking decision, the International Olympic Committee announced that Russia would be banned from competition at the upcoming Pyeongchang Olympic Games as punishment for their previous doping at the 2014 Games. Any clean athlete that is able to pass stringent testing will be allowed to compete under the “Olympic Athlete from Russia” logo, meaning Team OAR will likely be skating in the hockey tournament.
Veterans Buried: December brought the point at which teams could no longer wait for improved production from their struggling veterans. Several were waived and sent to the minors, including Matt Beleskey of the Boston Bruins and Matt Moulson of the Buffalo Sabres. That pair will earn a combined $9MM this season, but will have to ply their trades in the minor leagues for the time being.
Franchise Futures: Three different cities saw received early Christmas presents, as huge announcements were made by Seattle, Carolina and New York. The Islanders were approved for their new home at Belmont Park, the Hurricanes sold a majority stake to an excited new owner, and Seattle was given the green-light on their arena project and potential expansion. All three are positive steps for the league, and healthy steps for each market.
Salary Cap Increase: Though nothing is official just yet, there were wide reports that the 2018-19 salary cap ceiling will sit somewhere between $78-82MM. That’s good news for the clubs pushing the limit, and means solid growth of league revenues overall. The potential issues will arise for those struggling to reach the cap floor, and will likely result in more dead money being swapped around the league.
Karlsson-Watch: Just ahead of an exciting event for the Ottawa Senators, owner Eugene Melnyk sounded off on the struggling team and potential cuts to player salaries in the future. That put the spotlight on Erik Karlsson, who had recently discussed his upcoming free agency and the fact he wouldn’t be taking a “hometown discount” (which makes sense since Karlsson is from Landsbro, Sweden, not Ottawa, Canada). Karlsson is a free agent in the summer of 2019 and will be the target of rumors no matter how many times GM Pierre Dorion says he won’t deal him.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Morning Notes: Vilardi, Montoya, Wisniewski
The OHL trade of Los Angeles Kings’ prospect Gabe Vilardi is now official, and also includes New York Rangers draft pick Sean Day. The pair will head from the Windsor Spitfires to the Kingston Frontenacs in exchange for 16-year old Cody Morgan and eight draft picks that stretch all the way to 2028. Windsor is tearing apart the program a year after hosting and winning the Memorial Cup, a common practice in the CHL.
Vilardi, the 11th-overall pick in 2017 has recently been cleared to return to game action after a back injury kept him out for the first half of the season. He’ll bring an intense offensive presence to the Frontenacs, while Day gives them a veteran defenseman with good two-way upside. Day was allowed into the OHL at just 15 years old, but hasn’t found quite the same heights as his fellow “exceptional talents” like John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad and Connor McDavid. The pair should make Kingston a tough team to face as the league heads towards the playoff push.
- Al Montoya was back at Montreal Canadiens practice today for the first time since being ruled out with a concussion on November 9th. As Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports, the injury had occurred several days earlier, but symptoms developed slowly. The Canadiens currently employ Antti Niemi as their backup to Carey Price, but could potentially waive the netminder once again when Montoya is ready to return. Niemi has played for three teams already this season, and could find himself on the move again.
- The official roster for Team USA at the Pyeongchang Olympics will be announced today during the Winter Classic in New York, but apparently former NHL defenseman James Wisniewski has made it. That’s according to former teammate R.J. Umberger and TSN’s Darren Dreger, who both tweeted congratulations to the 33-year old. Wisniewski spent last season split between the AHL and KHL after attempting a comeback, and skated in the DEL’s second tier this year in his attempt to make the Olympic squad. A former 51-point defenseman for Columbus, Wisniewski was once a deadly powerplay quarterback and could assume that role again in the February Games.