Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for March 2018

Minor Transactions: 3/25/18

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

There have already been a couple early moves today as the league prepares for the second-to-last week of the regular season. Expect more to come as injuries and college additions continue to shift roster makeup. Others will be made to specifically prepare for key match-ups, such as major playoff position battles today between the Penguins and Flyers and Predators and Jets. Keep track of all the action here:

  • The Ottawa Senators have recalled forward Ben Sexton from their AHL affiliate in Belleville, marking the first big-league call-up for the 26-year-old. Sexton was a leader and top scorer as a college player at Clarkson University from 2010 to 2014, but the Boston Bruins, who had drafted him in the seventh round in 2009, moved on after just two disappointing minor league campaigns. Ever since, Sexton has been much more productive in the AHL and has finally earned his first NHL shot in his first season with the Senators after posting 10 goals and 21 points in 28 games so far in 2017-18.
  • Victor Ejdsell is also making his first trip to the NHL, not long after making his North American pro debut. The Chicago Blackhawks have announced Ejdsell’s promotion this morning and the 22-year-old Swedish forward could be in the lineup in short order, seeing as it was an emergency recall. Ejdsell was acquired by Chicago in the Ryan Hartman trade last month and only joined the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs last week. Ejdsell recorded 34 points in 50 games in the Swedish Hockey League this season before making the jump and notched an assist in his first AHL game.
  • With backup Al Montoya suffering through a minor ailment, the Edmonton Oilers announced they are recalling Laurent Brossoit on an emergency basis. The 25-year-old goaltender and one-time back-up this year has struggled in the NHL, posting a 3.22 GAA and a .886 save percentage in 13 games this year. He’s fared slightly better with the Bakersfield Condors with a 2.72 and a .912 save percentage in 22 games. The Oilers also announced they have sent forward Brad Malone to Bakersfield. Malone had been recalled Friday, but did not play Saturday.
  • The St. Louis Blues’ Samuel Blais has been up and down quite a bit in the past couple of days. The 21-year-old winger was called up Friday on an emergency basis and sent back down that night. He was recalled Saturday on an emergency basis and was assigned back to the San Antonio Rampage this morning, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He did not play in either Friday’s or Saturday’s games. The Blues have also assigned emergency fill-in Ville Husso to the San Antonio Rampage, according to NHL.com’s Lou Korac. The move suggests that Blues backup Carter Hutton, who has been out with a neck injury since Mar. 3, is ready to return to the team.

Snapshots: Andersson, Chytil, Gaudette, Sikura

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The New York Rangers rebuild might continue at a new level next week as NHL.com’s Dan Rosen writes that Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault, general manager Jeff Gorton and assistant general manager Chris Drury will talk later today about promoting 2017 first-round centers Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil.

Both first-round picks have fared well this season. Andersson, the seventh overall pick last year, started the season in the SHL, where he put up seven goals and seven assists in 22 games. He played in the World Junior Tournament and helped Sweden to a silver medal and then came to the U.S. and joined the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. There he’s put up five goals and 14 points in 23 games. Chytil, on the other hand, started the season in New York and played two games before the team decided to assign him to Hartford. There in 44 games, Chytil, the No. 21 pick last year, has put up 11 goals and 20 assists.

Rosen said if the Vigneault, Gorton and Drury agree, the two prospects could be inserted into the Rangers’ lineup as soon as Monday.

  • With the elimination of Northeastern University from the NCAA tournament, that could be good news for the Vancouver Canucks who will try to pry prized prospect Adam Gaudette from his collegiate team now that his season is over. In fact, Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal tweets that he’s heard from a source that says contract negotiations are expected to heat up tomorrow. The college junior was the Canucks fifth-round pick in 2015 and has put up 56 goals and 56 assists in his last two seasons with Northeastern. TSN’s Bob McKenzie also adds that the Canucks are expected to make a strong pitch to the 21-year-old center who is a top Hobey Baker Award candidate this year. Gaudette is expected to meet with his family/advisor soon.
  • Also, as reported earlier today, Northeastern’s elimination also fuels the report that the Chicago Blackhawks and Dylan Sikura will be coming to an agreement soon. Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times has a new update in which a league source has confirmed that Sikura will be in a Blackhawks uniform on Thursday.

Western Notes: Oilers’ Offseason, Kane, Denver Players, Sikura

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Edmonton Oilers are not heading to the playoffs and are currently looking at all their in-house options before the season ends. Then the team will embark on the next bunch of steps to fix the team that one year ago was the talk of the league. The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis (subscription required) comes up with an eight-point plan on how to fix the team this offseason, primary of which is to watch its spending, both on free agents as well as the possibility to send off some of their own contracts as well.

One of the first suggestions is that Edmonton should not overreact when it comes to some of their underperforming players. While several of their defensemen had tough seasons this year including Oscar Klefbom, Andrej Sekera and Adam Larsson, Willis believes that it’s unlikely that they will struggle again and the team must preach patience. However, the team needs to unload expensive contracts of bottom-tier players, suggesting the team might want to see if they can trade off defenseman Kris Russell and forward Zach Kassian to free up some of their money.

As for free agency, the team should avoid big-name free agents and look to sign some of the more modestly-priced players that will be on the market even suggesting that they could consider bringing back Patrick Maroon if he will agree on a short-term deal.

  • The Chicago Blackhawks great Patrick Kane said he hasn’t decided yet whether he will play at the World Championships in Copenhagen in May, according to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. He said he’ll consider it after his season ends, but it’s “definitely an option. After I didn’t go last year, I was thinking that maybe I should have went.”
  • Although this note is about a Western collegiate team, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman (subscription required) had an interesting nugget in his prospect mailbag. Pronman was asked of the potential signings of the University of Denver’s three forward prospects in Henrik Borgstrom, Troy Terry and Dylan Gambrell, three of the team’s top players. Pronman’s response is that he believes all three will be signing with their respective teams the moment their college season is over. Denver is currently playing in the NCAA tournament. Borgstrom, the Florida Panthers’ 2016 first-rounder scored 22 goals in his sophomore season. Terry, the Anaheim Ducks’ 2015 fifth-rounder picked up 13 goals and 44 points in his junior campaign, while Gambrell, San Jose Sharks’ second-round pick in 2015, finished his junior year with 13 goals and 42 points. All three could be major contributors to their teams as soon as next season.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks also could benefit greatly soon as well as Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that if Northeastern University loses today or Sunday, expect prospect Dylan Sikura to be signed and in the Blackhawks lineup by Thursday. The Northeastern senior, who was the sixth-round pick in 2014, has had dominant season the past two years, combining for 42 goals and 110 points in two seasons. Northeastern is playing Michigan today.

Minor Transactions: 3/24/18

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

As many team continue their quest to either clinching or closing in on a playoff spot, the NHL has a full slate of 12 games scheduled with many impact games upcoming. Teams like the New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues and the Florida Panthers all need victories to continue their playoff drives. The Vegas Golden Knights are also a win away from clinching their first-ever playoff spot today. Throw in multiple injuries and teams will be making many moves today to keep their rosters loaded for their playoff runs.

  • The Florida Panthers recalled goaltender Harri Sateri from the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL this morning, according to FoxSports’s Steve Goldstein. With starter Roberto Luongo banged up with a minor lower-body injury, the team will turn to backup James Reimer. Sateri, who has served as the team’s emergency backup on multiple occasions this year has played in nine games with the Panthers, putting up a 2.92 GAA and a .911 save percentage.
  • The Colorado Avalanche announced they have recalled goaltender Spencer Martin from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL as veteran Jonathan Bernier is unable to play with an infection from a cut. While having been recalled several times this season, Martin has not appeared in a game for Colorado, who are fighting to clinch a playoff spot. The 22-year-old goalie has a 3.02 GAA and a .895 save percentage in 32 games for San Antonio.
  • The Vancouver Canucks announced they have recalled defenseman Ashton Sautner from the Utica Comets of the AHL under emergency conditions today. The move was made after veteran defenseman Chris Tanev left Friday’s game in the third period with an undisclosed injury. This is the second time the 23-year-old Sautner has been recalled by Vancouver, but he has still not made his NHL debut yet. In 59 games, the blueliner has three goals and nine assists on the season. Sportsnet’s Rich Dhaliwal tweets that Sautner scored the game-winning overtime goal for Utica last night and could play his first NHL game in Dallas Sunday.
  • CapFriendly reported that the San Jose Sharks have assigned defenseman Tim Heed to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL after being recalled Friday. He has been bouncing up and down for much of the season.
  • CapFriendly also reported that the Buffalo Sabres have recalled winger Justin Bailey from the Rochester Americans of the AHL on an emergency loan. Bailey has had some success in Buffalo, picking up three goals in 12 games.

St. Louis Blues’ Gunnarsson Out For Season With ACL Tear

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The St. Louis Blues momentum towards grabbing a playoff spot hit another bump in the road when the team announced that defenseman Carl Gunnarsson will miss the rest of the season after he suffered an ACL tear in his left knee during Friday night’s victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Gunnarsson, who suffered the injury in the first period of Friday’s game, is expected to undergo surgery as soon as the swelling subsides. He is expected to be re-evaluated in six months, so he could conceivably be ready for next season. Gunnarsson still has one more year on his current deal at $2.9MM AAV.

The 31-year-old veteran defenseman has played 63 games for the Blues, scoring five goals and nine points on the season. Gunnarsson was providing key depth as the team had already lost top defenseman Jay Bouwmeester for the season almost three weeks ago. The Blues are currently one point behind for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference and now will be forced to use inexperienced defensemen to fill in for the team. Jordan Schmaltz, who has played just 10 games this season, will likely be thrust into a bigger role from now on. No word on who the team plans to recall to replace Gunnarsson.

New Jersey Signs Cam Johnson To 1-Year Entry-Level Deal

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The New Jersey Devils announced they have signed North Dakota senior free-agent goaltender Cameron Johnson to a one-year, entry-level contract, which will start during the 2018-19 season. In the meantime, Johnson will join the AHL’s Binghampton Devils and sign an Amateur Tryout (ATO) on Tuesday to finish out the 2017-18 season. The collegiate star finished up his senior year at North Dakota, a team that didn’t qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002.

Johnson, however, fared well for his team as the 23-year-old goalie finished the season with a 2.14 GAA and a .910 save percentage in 29 games. He did miss a month early in the season with an undisclosed injury, but came back strong. His best collegiate season came during his sophomore year when he put up a 1.66 GAA and a .935 save percentage, leading North Dakota to the NCAA National Championship in 2016. For his career, Johnson finished with a 56-26-10 record.

Johnson has broken several records for North Dakota, including having the school’s all-time record for career goals against with a 2.10. He ranks second in school history in shutouts with 12 and fourth in wins.

Injury Notes: Versteeg, Brodie, Tkachuk, Kuznetsov, Holtby, Bernier

at CDT | by 6 Comments

Not long after the Calgary Flames shut down center Sean Monahan for the season, the Flames lost another player for the remainder of the season in winger Kris Versteeg, according to Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson.

Versteeg had been out with a hip injury for a large chunk of the season this year. He has been out since Nov. 24, but came back last week for two games. Yet two scratches in a row in the team’s two most recent games suggests he wasn’t at full strength. With the Flames quickly bottoming out in the final stretch of games, it probably makes sense for the team to allow Versteeg to sit and heal for next season, allowing them to look at some younger options.

While Versteeg’s loss isn’t as devastating a loss as Monahan, Versteeg was considered a key to the team’s back-six. He has averaged close to 15 goals per season over the previous three years, but only managed to appear in 24 games this season, posting just three goals and five assists.

  • In other injury news in Calgary, the Calgary Sun’s Kristen Anderson writes that defenseman T. J. Brodie and winger Matthew Tkachuk are both still considered day-to-day and will not travel with the team to San Jose or Los Angeles for their upcoming road trip. Brodie has missed two games after taking a hit from Vegas Golden Knights enforcer Ryan Reaves on Mar. 18, while Tkachuk has missed five games after taking a hit from the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal on Mar. 11.
  • The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan tweets that center Evgeny Kuznetsov will return to the Capitals’ lineup today after missing three games with an upper-body injury. The 25-year-old center has never missed a game with an injury and as the Capitals fight for a better seeding in the playoffs, the team will be happy to get him back. Kuznetsov is heading for a career year as he already has a career-high 21 goals and his 71 points is six short of his career high.
  • Khurshudyan also notes that Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz will continue to hold goaltender Braden Holtby out of games as he doesn’t want to risk further injury. The veteran goaltender remains day-to-day with a lower body injury.
  • Adrian Dater of BSN Denver tweets that Colorado Avalanche goaltender Jonathan Bernier is out again, this time with an upper-body injury. He came in to replace Semyon Varlamov Thursday in their 7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, and allowed two goals.

NHLPA Approves Proposed Changes To Lottery Odds

at CDT | by 8 Comments

In what has become an annual event, the NHL Players’ Association has yet again approved changes to the NHL Draft lottery odds. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the NHLPA today signed off on a new lottery set-up recently submitted by the league. It marks the third season in a row that the odds have been altered.

The percentage chance that a team is selected to pick first, second, or third, as expressed by the number of ping pong balls present in the lottery draw, is dependent on where they finish in the overall league standings. Unsurprisingly, the changes to the odds first agreed upon in the Collective Bargaining Agreement began with the Edmonton Oilers and the painful realization that they had won yet another lottery in 2015 and would move up in the draft order to select Connor McDavid as their fourth first overall pick in a six year span. In response, the league significantly boosted the odds in 2016 toward the teams finishing last winning the lottery – expecting that Edmonton would no longer be in that range – as LeBrun notes that the 30th-place team had 20% odds of picking first two years ago. After the worst team in the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs, retained the top pick that year and selected Auston Matthews, the league and NHLPA again agreed to lessen the odds and insert more chance (and excitement) into the lottery. LeBrun indicates that last year the league’s worst, the Colorado Avalanche, had an 18% chance of holding on to the top pick. However, in a wild turn of events, three teams outside the bottom four won the lottery and moved into the top three draft slots, the biggest shift being the Philadelphia Flyers, who narrowly missed the playoffs, picking second. So, to perhaps combat another clean sweep, the odds have again been increased for those toward the bottom

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the new odds of selecting first for the upcoming 2018 NHL Draft will be 18.5% for 31st, 13.5% for 30th, and 11.5% for 29th. With the addition of an extra non-playoff team, there is also a new distribution which in fact increases the odds for the last team to miss the playoffs, the 17th-place finisher, by a tenth of a percent to 1%. This is accomplished by lessening the odds for the middle-of-the pack lottery teams. It may not be a coincidence that the Oilers are part of that group. Nor may it be a coincidence that the current bottom three – the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, and Arizona Coyotes – are all teams that have been struggling for years and would certainly appreciate retaining their high picks. This yearly change in draft lottery odds seems to be very responsive to the results of each prior lottery, but that isn’t a bad thing. So long as both the league and NHLPA agree, it’s safe to assume that the changes have the best interests of competitive balance in mind.

Joe Thornton Could Return During Playoffs

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Don’t count out Joe Thornton just yet. One of the league’s most well-respected veterans, “Jumbo Joe” has largely been counted out this season. The 38-year-old suffered a major knee injury, a torn MCL, back in January and few expected a return to the San Jose Sharks lineup in 2017-18. Thornton tried to put those thoughts to rest today, as NHL.com reports that he hopes to return to action as soon as possible, even if it’s late in the playoffs. Thornton’s full statement when asked about his progress and a potential return:

“Who knows? If I’m better mid-April or mid-May, I’m not sure yet, I can’t say. I’d like to contribute and to play if I can… I’ve been just kind of fooling around on the ice for I’d say about 10 days now. Probably full equipment for four or five sessions just by myself. … It’s feeling really strong, but I’m sure as every week goes on it will get more intense, but so far so good.”

Thornton’s words don’t exactly inspire great confidence, but it at least instills a glimmer of hope that one of the game’s most visible players could return and make an impact in the playoffs. Considering the fact that Thornton has 20 years of wear and tear on his body, it’s amazing that the 1997 first overall pick hasn’t simply been shut down for the season.

Of course, both sides have a reason to fight for a return to the lineup. Before his injury, Thornton was somehow outpacing his last season’s scoring, with 36 points in 47 games. At his age, the big center has shown little sign of slowing down. However, he may not have the same luck in free agency again this off-season, after earning a one-year, $8MM extension from the Sharks. This extensive injury coupled with a stronger free agent market (and San Jose’s rumored heavy interest in spending) could mean that Thornton won’t be able to cash in again. However, fighting his way back into the lineup would show both the Sharks and other potential suitors that Thornton still has what it takes to play in the NHL. For the Sharks, it would of course be nice to add another familiar body – and one of the top play-makers of his generation, to the lineup even it it’s not until later in the playoffs. San Jose is chasing the Vegas Golden Knights for top spot in the Pacific Division, but seem more likely to square off with either the Anaheim Ducks or Los Angeles Kings in the 2-3 match-up, which could honestly be a more difficult draw. If they are able to move on, Thornton’s return would help to combat the upstart Knights (or a wildcard winner) and would certainly be a necessary boost to take on one of the many strong teams who could come out of the Central Division.

Thornton’s potential return would also simply be a great boost for fans of the game. A fun player to watch, a great personality, and a Hall of Fame caliber career that simply lacks a Stanley Cup makes Thornton an easy player to root for. Hopefully his optimism that this injury won’t be season-ending comes to fruition.

Sean Monahan Out For Remainder Of Regular Season

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Calgary Flames will shut down Sean Monahan for the rest of the season according to Wes Gilberton of the Calgary Sun, after playing through two significant injuries for quite some time. Monahan has played in 74 of 75 games despite the injuries, but with the recent losing streak taking Calgary all but out of the playoff picture, his season will now end. Surgery is next for the 23-year old, though the details are still unclear on what the injuries are.

Even though the Flames have put together a disappointing season, not much of the blame can be placed on their young center. Despite fighting injury, Monahan was able to record a career-high 64 points and tallied a league-leading 11 game-winning goals. While Johnny Gaudreau has continued to rack up points, Monahan is a responsible two-way presence that the team will continue to build around. With Mikael Backlund signing an extension, the Flames will have their top two center spots locked up long-term.

The question now for the Flames is how to turn the roster into the Stanley Cup contender they were expected to be. Sitting eight points out with just seven games remaining, Calgary is also looking at a long wait at the draft table before adding any assets. If they actually decide to trade for a first-round pick, it will likely come with a shakeup of the NHL roster. You can bet Monahan won’t be part of that shakeup, especially after his gutsy performance this season.

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

scroll to top