Archives for February 2019

Chicago Blackhawks Place Luc Snuggerud On Waivers

February 11, 2019 at 1:50 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

Monday: Snuggerud has cleared waivers and will see his contract terminated.

Sunday: The Chicago Blackhawks have put defenseman Luc Snuggerud on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination, according to CapFriendly. The 23-year-old has struggled with concussions and has appeared in just 44 games over the past two seasons with the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL.

Snuggerud was a fifth-round pick in 2014 and was signed after his junior year at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and looked like a promising prospect. He tallied five goals and 17 points in 40 games last season in the AHL. However, his concussion issues have been even worse this year as he has managed to appear in just four games with Rockford.

The blueliner is in the second year of a three-year entry-level deal. With little flexibility in signing potential college free agents, something that the Blackhawks have been in on in recent years, this should free up a contract slot for the upcoming future.

Montreal Canadiens Acquire Nate Thompson

February 11, 2019 at 11:46 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 6 Comments

The Montreal Canadiens lost a depth forward on waivers today when Kenny Agostino was claimed by the New Jersey Devils, but have acquired another. Montreal has traded a 2019 fourth-round pick (CGY) for Los Angeles Kings center Nate Thompson and a 2019 fifth-round pick (ARI).

Thompson, 34, represents a veteran addition for the Canadiens who have surprised many in their hunt for the playoffs this season. The young, speedy team is in a battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division and could very well meet one of those teams in the first round. Thompson, while not nearly as quick as some of his new Montreal teammates, is a reliable defensive center who is excellent in the faceoff circle and has 62 playoff games under his belt.

The cost for the Canadiens is almost nothing, given that the difference in draft picks is likely just a handful of spots once the standings are finalized. Instead they’ll take the rest of Thompson’s $1.65MM annual salary off the Kings’ hands. Montreal, who came into the season with plenty of cap space, can basically add whoever they want at the deadline to help their playoff chances this year. Thompson will only take up a small amount of their deadline cap room, but he will force them to make another roster move to open a spot.

The team recalled Dale Weise earlier today giving them a full 23-man roster, meaning there will be someone else on waivers tomorrow. CapFriendly believes that player will be Michael Chaput, though there has not yet been any confirmation from the team.

For the Kings, Thompson was always expected to be dealt before the deadline given his status as a pending unrestricted free agent. The team now has just two rental options remaining on the NHL roster, Carl Hagelin and Oscar Fantenberg.

Alexis Lafreniere To Stay In CHL For 2019-20

February 11, 2019 at 11:08 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

There has been some speculation over the last few days regarding the future of potential 2020 first-overall pick Alexis Lafreniere and where he would play next season. Some believed Lafreniere would seek an opportunity overseas the same way that Auston Matthews did when he played a year in the Swiss NLA prior to his draft, but the young forward has set the record straight. Momentum Hockey Agency, who represent Lafreniere, have released this statement (via Bob McKenzie of TSN):

There have been discussions with certain clubs in Europe in the last few months. When dealing with a young player like Alexis, it’s important to evaluate every option in order to make the best decision for his short and long term career. After a great deal of consideration with the player and his family, the decision was unanimous to remain with the Rimouski Oceanic for the 2019-2020 season.

Lafreniere, who is still just 17 years old, would have had several hurdles to overcome even to be eligible to play overseas. All that will be forgotten now, and he can focus on dominating the QMJHL like he has for the past year and a half. In 107 regular season games with Rimouski, Lafreniere has 74 goals and 167 points to go along with a +88 rating. His presence makes the Oceanic a dangerous playoff matchup and could potentially lead the team to a Memorial Cup berth if they can get through the tough league playoffs.

The 2020 draft is still more than 16 months away, but Lafreniere is the early favorite to go first overall. Already big enough to hold his own against older players, the 6’1″ forward looks as though he will mature even further physically and can already protect the puck extremely well. His skill around the net is already at a high level, and he seems to be able to make decisions and movements quicker than any of his contemporaries. An all-around impact forward, there’s no reason to believe he won’t completely dominate the competition in the CHL next season.

That domination is why some hoped he would pursue an opportunity in a professional league, as there is little left to accomplish in the CHL. Sure, there are team goals that Lafreniere will hope to reach with Rimouski but his development may slow a bit given the lack of competition. Still, teams are salivating at the idea of bringing him into their organization in June 2020 and seeing what heights he can reach offensively.

New Jersey Devils Claim Kenny Agostino

February 11, 2019 at 11:06 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

The New Jersey Devils have decided to claim forward Kenny Agostino off waivers, meaning the Montreal Canadiens have lost another forward to the process. Montreal has already watched teams claim Nikita Scherbak and Jacob de La Rose this season. The Devils have sent Ryan Murphy to the minor leagues to make room, while recently acquired forward Dale Weise has been recalled by the Canadiens.

Agostino, a New Jersey native, will be reunited with the GM that drafted him in 2010 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. When Ray Shero used a fifth-round selection on the undersized forward he knew there was a lot of offensive potential there, but perhaps could not have imagined just how well Agostino would fare in the minor leagues. A former AHL MVP, the 26-year old Agostino has recorded 246 points in 273 regular season minor league games. Unfortunately that minor league success hasn’t translated to NHL opportunity, with 36 of Agostino’s 58 career NHL games coming this season with the Canadiens.

Still, there is little risk in a pickup of this nature for the Devils. Agostino is on a two-way contract that pays just $700K in the NHL and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Either he can contribute a bit for New Jersey down the stretch, or potentially becomes a deadline trade asset for a team looking for some depth. Montreal obviously couldn’t move him for anything worthwhile, but perhaps a showcase in New Jersey could create a market for the talented forward. Otherwise, it gives Agostino a chance to get familiar with an organization who may want to bring him back next season. There’s little doubt that he can help a minor league club, but New Jersey might also experience quite a bit of turnover through the summer given that players like Marcus Johansson and Drew Stafford are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents.

Minor Transactions: 02/11/19

February 11, 2019 at 9:23 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

After a busy weekend in the NHL things have slowed down to just a trio of games on the schedule for tonight. Things will kick off with a Pittsburgh-Philadelphia matchup that will be a lot more interesting than it was a few weeks ago. Always a heated rivalry, the two teams are headed in opposite directions and now sit just six points apart in the Metropolitan standings. As teams prepare for the week’s action, we’ll be right here keeping track of all the minor moves.

The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled Dylan Sikura from the minor leagues, giving them an extra healthy forward while David Kampf is out. Sikura has played well in the minor leagues this season recording 30 points in 40 games, but is still waiting for his first NHL goal. The 23-year old forward was a standout at Northeastern University but has just six points in 16 games with the Blackhawks so far in his young career.
Patrick Brown has been recalled by the Carolina Hurricanes, giving the team a 13th forward as they prepare to play the Ottawa Senators tomorrow night. Brown has 18 points in 46 games for the Charlotte Checkers and last played in the NHL during the 2016-17 season.
Eric Robinson is on his way back up to the Columbus Blue Jackets, taking the place of Mark Letestu who has been sent back to the Cleveland Monsters. Robinson, 23, has recorded 24 points in 45 games with the Monsters but is still looking for his first NHL point. Letestu meanwhile played in just two games with the Blue Jackets during his recent recall, and failed to get on the score sheet.
The Colorado Avalanche have returned defenseman Anton Lindholm to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, the minor league affiliate announced. Lindholm has split his time between the two teams this season, but has only played in two games with the Avs versus 34 with the Eagles. While Lindholm would prefer to be up with the NHL squad, where he spent the entirety of last season, but the depth of the Avalanche on the blue line paired with his own meager production has limited his opportunity at the top level.

Collin Delia Signs Three-Year Deal With Chicago Blackhawks

February 11, 2019 at 8:36 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

The Chicago Blackhawks have signed young goaltender Collin Delia to a three-year contract extension. The deal carries a cap hit of $1MM per season, and will keep Delia with the team through the 2021-22 season. Delia would have been a restricted free agent this summer.

Delia, 24, has made quite the impression in Chicago this season with a 6-2-3 record and .923 save percentage in 12 appearances. The undrafted goaltender out of Merrimack College has been quite the find, and will now get some career stability and a nice pay raise for the next few seasons. The deal will buy out one unrestricted free agent year, but will likely give Delia a chance to establish himself as a starting goaltender in the NHL. That opportunity of course is contingent on the health of Corey Crawford, something that is entirely uncertain at the moment.

The contract represents almost zero risk for the Blackhawks, given the fact that the entire cap hit could be buried in the minor leagues if necessary. It also gives them a goaltender under contract to expose in the upcoming expansion draft if necessary, though Delia may prove to be the one they want to protect by the time it rolls around. Like other goaltenders around the league—Alex Stalock, Casey DeSmith and Pheonix Copley in particular—Delia gets to take advantage of the expansion draft rules to guarantee some stability with a multi-year contract that he normally may not have received.

It’s unclear where the Blackhawks will turn for a starting goaltender if Crawford doesn’t come back healthy, but Delia will now have the inside track on that position. Cam Ward, who signed for $3MM in the summer is heading to unrestricted free agency once again, and Anton Forsberg will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. That could very well result in a lack of qualifying offer for the minor league goaltender, leaving Delia as the lone option for the team to begin next season. Still, that may lead the team to consider other options given his lack of experience. Delia has only played 14 games at the NHL level and did struggle in the minor leagues in 2017-18. It’s a nice middle ground for both sides, but doesn’t mean the Blackhawks are completely finished with the goaltending position.

Five Key Stories: 2/10/19 – 2/16/19

February 10, 2019 at 8:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

With the trade deadline quickly approaching, activity has started to pick up around the league. Here are the top stories from the past seven days.

Predators Add Forward Depth: The Predators added some depth down the middle, acquiring veteran Brian Boyle from New Jersey in exchange for a second-round pick. Boyle is in the midst of one of the best offensive seasons of his career with 13 goals under his belt already in 49 games while being above average at the faceoff dot once again. He’ll give Nashville another strong option for their penalty kill as well. The Preds weren’t done there as they brought back winger Cody McLeod from the Rangers for a 2020 seventh rounder. McLeod will add some grit in the absence of Austin Watson who is currently under an indefinite suspension.

Capitals Extend Copley: Evidently, Washington likes what they’ve seen from backup goaltender Pheonix Copley this season, handing the first-year netminder a three-year, $3.3MM extension. The 27-year-old has posted a 2.97 GAA with a .904 SV% in 20 appearances so far this season, numbers that are quite close to starter Braden Holtby. Worth noting, the three-year term means he will be under contract for the Seattle expansion draft in 2021, meaning that the Capitals will be able to leave him unprotected, fulfilling the requirement of having one goalie under contract being available to be selected.

Matthews Extension: There will be one less player in the upcoming class of high-end restricted free agents as Toronto inked 2016 top pick Auston Matthews. However, unlike some of the top youngsters in recent years, he opted to not sign a max-term, eight-year contract. Instead, he put pen to paper on a five-year, $58.17MM contract, an AAV of $11.634MM which sits second overall in the league behind Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. A whopping 93.7% of the deal will be paid out in annual signing bonuses on July 1st, meaning that his base salary will be the league minimum in each year of the contract. Matthews sits second on the Maple Leafs in goals this season with 24 in just 39 games while he sits 11th in the league in points per game. With this deal done, Toronto will now turn their focus to pending RFA winger Mitch Marner who is likely to command a somewhat comparable contract.

Kovalchuk Available: Less than a year ago, winger Ilya Kovalchuk was one of the more sought after unrestricted free agents on the open market. He ultimately signed a three-year, $18.75MM contract with Los Angeles and the move hasn’t worked out as well as they had hoped as he has just 26 points in 44 games so far. Accordingly, with the team clearly looking to sell before the trade deadline, the Kings have made the 35-year-old available for trade. Kovalchuk has a full no-move clause so he will have control over where he goes if they’re able to find a taker for his contract.

Carlyle Fired: With Anaheim having lost 19 of 21 games (many of which weren’t close), something had to give. GM Bob Murray had already tried tinkering with the fringes of the roster but clearly, that wasn’t enough and something more significant needed to happen. It finally did as Murray relieved head coach Randy Carlyle of his duties. Interestingly enough, instead of promoting AHL bench boss Dallas Eakins or one of the assistants in an interim role, Murray himself will take over behind the bench for the remainder of the season despite having no prior coaching experience.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Notes: Dzingel, Hudon, Ennis

February 10, 2019 at 7:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

While Mark Stone and Matt Duchene have garnered the majority of the attention among Ottawa’s pending unrestricted free agents, Ryan Dzingel’s situation is certainly worth monitoring as well. The 26-year-old is in the midst of a career year and already has 20 goals and 21 assists on the season in 53 games. His future with the team appears to be dependent on what happens with Stone and Duchene but as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch notes, the asking price appears to be quite high, coming in between $5.5MM and $6MM on a long-term deal. Even though Dzingel has a chance to reach 30 goals this season, that price tag may very well be too rich for the Senators which should increase his odds of being dealt by the February 25th trade deadline.

Deadline Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning

February 10, 2019 at 6:56 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

With the trade deadline fast approaching, we continue our look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? We turn our focus to the Eastern Conference with a look at the Tampa Bay Lightning.

While Tampa Bay’s season got off to a surprising start with the resignation of GM Steve Yzerman before training camp, there haven’t been many surprises since then. They went into the season with the expectation of being one of the elite teams and they have done exactly that. Now, new GM Julien BriseBois is tasked with making the final tweak or two to what should be a Stanley Cup-contending roster.

Record

40-11-4, first in the Atlantic Division

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$7.953MM in a full-season cap hit, 0/3 used salary cap retention slots, 49/50 contracts per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2019: TB 1st*, TB 3rd, TB 4th, TB 6th, CHI 7th, TB 7th
2020: TB 1st, TB 2nd, TB 3rd, TB 4th, TB 5th, TB 6th, TB 7th

* – If Tampa Bay wins the Stanley Cup this season, the Rangers will receive Tampa Bay’s 2019 first rounder while the Lightning will get back their 2019 second rounder.

Trade Chips

Sellers are going to be coveting some of Tampa Bay’s younger NHL-ready assets. Winger Mathieu Joseph is bound to draw a lot of attention as a rookie that has a shot at 20 goals this season but it will take a significant player coming the other way for them to part with him. At the AHL level, 2017 top pick Cal Foote is having a nice rookie year at the professional level and will also draw a lot of interest. However, given the state of their back end, it’s plausible that Foote will be counted on to play a regular role next season with the Lightning so it would be tough to see him in play for a rental. Second-year center Mitchell Stephens recently returned from injury and is someone that has bottom-six upside which would make him a little easier to part with. Winger Danick Martel is likely expendable but given how little he has played this year, it’s hard to imagine him having much of a market.

While Tampa Bay isn’t going to be selling, one veteran that many expect to be in play is winger Ryan Callahan. His $5.8MM cap hit is extremely pricey relative to what he brings to the table and with some big ticket deals on the horizon (more on that later), they would love to clear his deal off the books for next season. The question is how much are they willing to pay to make that happen? Do they part with a quality prospect or a high draft pick to serve as a sweetener? Do they retain on the contract which would still be better longer-term than a possible buyout next summer? They have more than enough salary cap space this season to carry Callahan – who has been a healthy scratch as of late – but how motivated will they be to clear his contract for next season?

Five Players To Watch For: F Ryan Callahan, D Dominik Masin, F Danick Martel, C Mitchell Stephens, F Alexander Volkov

Team Needs

1) Top Four Defenseman: Mikhail Sergachev has shown that he isn’t quite ready to play regularly in the top four on the back end while veterans Braydon Coburn and Dan Girardi are better served in limited roles. Adding a second pairing defenseman would allow Tampa to push their bottom guys into the proper roles while giving them some extra insurance should one of their top three blueliners get injured.

2) Free Up 2019-20 Cap Space: Tampa Bay currently has $73.1MM tied up in just 13 players for next season and need to re-sign or replace three defensemen as well as lock up center Brayden Point, one of the top pending restricted free agents around the league. As things stand, there’s no way they’ll be able to do all of that and fill out the rest of their roster without shedding some salary for next season. Finding a way to move Callahan’s contract would certainly help while winger Alex Killorn could also eventually be on the move although given his role, that may be more of an offseason deal. At either rate, financial flexibility moving forward will need to be at the top of their to-do list.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacific Notes: Hitchcock, Sekera, Vlasic

February 10, 2019 at 5:54 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

Edmonton Oilers head coach Ken Hitchcock may have hit his threshold for how much he can take of the current situation in Edmonton where the Oilers have lost seven of their last eight games, according to the Edmonton Journal’s David Staples. Hitchcock, who took over in November for former head coach Todd McLellan, lashed out to the media about his team’s 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks.

“At this time of year, the coaches can’t want it more than the players,” Hitchcock said. “That is number one. At the end of the day, it’s going to be decided whether we want to play the right way cause it’s successful, or whether we just want to do our thing. And to me today was a game we just wanted to do our thing and paid dearly for it.”

One player Hitchcock was targeting was star Leon Draisaitl, whose weak backcheck was responsible for one of the goals scored against the team. Despite the fact that Draisaitl is having a career year offensively, more is expected of him.

“(It’s) symptom of something of much bigger,” said Hitchcock. “To me, it’s priorities and it’s what’s important. I mean, look at the fifth goal, it was a change goal, we just dribbling went to the bench (again this was Draisaitl), turned it over in the neutral zone and just walked to the bench and changed. It just can’t be acceptable.”

Sticking with the Oilers, the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins writes that defenseman Andrej Sekera, who has been out all season after undergoing surgery on his Achilles tendon, in August, played in his second game conditioning stint with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL and could have to make move to bring him back by Wednesday after his conditioning stint ends. Sekera fared well, but whether he’s quick enough to play at the NHL level again, is another question, according to Leavins. The team, which has Sekera on LTIR, will have to make a move to be able to activate Sekera.
Since missing 10 games before the All-Star break with what is believed to be a shoulder injury, San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic has seen a major improvement in his game, according to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required). His play is one of the reason, the Sharks have won four straight without Erik Karlsson. He’s had one assist and a plus-three rating, while showing that he’s rejuvenated. “I think he’s playing with a little more jump, a little more urgency in his game,” head coach Peter DeBoer said. “That’s probably the two things. A little more decisiveness, which has kind of been a hallmark of what his game is about, especially ending plays and defending. He’s looked really good.”

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