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Archives for November 2021

AHL Shuffle: 11/04/21

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With the Jack Eichel news finally over, the Buffalo Sabres can move on with their surprisingly good start to the season. They’re one of the 18 teams in action tonight, in Seattle to battle the Kraken. With so many teams in play, there are sure to be quite a few recalls and reassignments. As always, we’ll keep track of them right here.

Atlantic Division

  • Peyton Krebs, one of the key pieces of the Eichel trade, will be assigned to the AHL when he joins the Sabres organization. Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams explained that there is “no rush” to get Krebs to the NHL level and are focused on his long-term development. The young forward had played nine games with the Golden Knights this season.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Kristians Rubins from the Toronto Marlies, giving them some added depth as Travis Dermott deals with an injury. Dermott will be a game-time decision tonight after blocking a shot earlier this week. Rubins, 23, has yet to play in the NHL but was one of the three players announced by Latvia for the upcoming Olympics.

Metropolitan Division

  • The Washington Capitals have sent Aliaksei Protas back to the minor leagues, with Nic Dowd activated off injured reserve. Protas, the 6’6″ power forward that the team drafted in 2019, made his NHL debut in Dowd’s absence.

Central Division

  • After some impressive performances, Connor Ingram has been loaned back to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. The 24-year-old netminder actually allowed four goals to the Edmonton Oilers in last night’s loss, but it could have been much worse had it not been for some acrobatic saves. His assignment likely means that the Nashville Predators will activate David Rittich in the coming days.
  • With Alex Goligoski set to return, the Minnesota Wild have sent Calen Addison back to the minor leagues. The young defenseman has played two games for the Wild this season, scoring his first NHL goal in the process.

Pacific Division

  • The Calgary Flames have recalled Walker Duehr from the AHL, giving the young forward his first NHL opportunity. Duehr, a college free agent signing, has three points in five games for the Stockton Heat this season.
  • Per AZCentral’s Jose M. Romero, the Coyotes recalled forward Ben McCartney from the Tucson Roadrunners today and sent goalie Ivan Prosvetov back down. The Coyotes claimed Scott Wedgewood on waivers today, making Prosvetov expendable for the time being. McCartney could make his NHL debut after scoring four goals in four games so far with Tucson this season.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Vegas Golden Knights Acquire Jack Eichel

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After months of speculation, negotiations, and public frustration, the Jack Eichel saga in Buffalo has come to an end. The Vegas Golden Knights and Buffalo Sabres have both officially announced a trade that will take Eichel to the desert. He will go to Vegas along with a 2023 third-round pick, in exchange for forwards Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round pick, and a 2023 second-round pick.

The first-round selection is top-10 protected and the Sabres did not retain any salary. Should the pick end up in the top 10 after this year’s lottery, the Golden Knights will send their 2023 first-round and 2024 second-round picks instead of the ones listed. In that case, the Sabres’ 2023 third-round selection that is included would also become a 2024 third-rounder. Basically, if it ends up in the top 10, all three picks bump forward a year.

For Buffalo fans, seeing a frustrated first-line center shipped out of town for a collection of assets is certainly familiar but this deal is not the same as the one that took Ryan O’Reilly from them a few years ago.

In that deal, the best young player the team received was Tage Thompson, as both Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka were established talents already on their way out of the league. This time in Tuch and Krebs, the Sabres have secured two players that are still improving and should be able to help the club for much longer.

Tuch, 25, is in the third season of a seven-year, $33.25MM contract that already appears to be one of the most reasonable deals in the league. The 6’4″ forward is a blend of size and skill that’s incredibly difficult to find, and has shown an ability to score at a high level even with limited opportunity. In 55 games last season he scored 18 goals and 33 points despite his most common linemates at even strength being Nicolas Roy and Keegan Kolesar.

In Buffalo, he very well could see much better offensive deployment and end up lining up in the top-six. That’ll have to wait a few months though, as Tuch is recovering from offseason surgery and isn’t expected back in the lineup until January.

Krebs meanwhile will likely step directly into the Sabres forward group, where he’ll take the next steps of his professional career. Still just 20, Krebs was the 17th overall pick in 2019 and has already reached the NHL. While he has yet to score a goal in his 13 career games, there are obvious signs that he can be a valuable contributor and adds another option at center ice for Buffalo.

Adding another first-round pick means the Sabres now have three selections this year after they had already acquired one from the Florida Panthers. Given how many top prospects they already have in the organization, there’s a real chance that Buffalo could have a very quick turnaround and start competing in the next few years.

The question now becomes whether that turnaround will be navigated properly. Buffalo has now seemingly run another star player out of town with poor management and coaching choices, resulting in a situation that could only be resolved by trade. The old adage “whoever gets the best player in the deal, wins” could apply here, as Eichel is certainly a level above Tuch or Krebs when healthy.

Healthy is the concern now for Vegas, but the Golden Knights must obviously believe in the disk replacement surgery that Eichel is after. Whenever he does go under the knife, he still faces a months-long recovery, meaning he won’t be on the ice at T-Mobile for quite some time.

When he does return though, Eichel is exactly the kind of first-line center that the Golden Knights have been looking for since they came into existence. The team has gotten by with the exceptional two-way play of William Karlsson and have worked to turn Chandler Stephenson into a legitimate top-six force, but have never had a player like Eichel that can drive offense at an elite level.

In 375 career games, Eichel has 355 points including breaking the point-per-game threshold in both 2018-19 and 2019-20. He can score at even-strength and on the powerplay–the latter of which is currently 0-18 for the Golden Knights–while logging huge minutes in the middle of the ice. In 2020, Eichel finished eighth in Hart Trophy voting, after scoring 36 goals and 78 points in 68 games.

Of course, to land Eichel the Golden Knights not only had to part with several assets, but will also have to carry his $10MM cap hit for this season and four more. A full no-movement clause also comes into effect next season, as does another $7.5MM signing bonus. The Golden Knights have continuously flirted with the salary cap upper limit, but will now be carrying three players who have a cap hit of at least $8.8MM for the next several years.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that there were actually three teams in the Eichel sweepstakes until the end. The Golden Knights, Calgary Flames and, perhaps surprisingly, Carolina Hurricanes all stayed in the talks. The NHL insider does admit that the Hurricanes weren’t close but doesn’t specify whether the Flames ever got near a deal. The report about Matthew Tkachuk yesterday was likely a way to make Vegas put their final offer on the table.

While the winner and loser of today’s deal will be discussed for years to come, one clear beneficiary of the deal is Eichel himself. While the Sabres were holding out for the biggest package possible, the 25-year-old center was dealing with a serious neck injury that needed surgery. Now, finally, he will be able to get his preferred treatment and hopefully resume his career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Updates: Malkin, Toews, Forsberg, Ellis

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The injury and COVID-riddled Penguins have been without center Evgeni Malkin all season as he works his way back from offseason knee surgery.  Speaking with Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, GM Ron Hextall indicated that the 35-year-old has been skating basically daily and is on track in his recovery.  However, despite that promising news, the team is unable to provide an update on how much longer Malkin will be out of the lineup.  The original announcement was that he’d miss the first two months of the season at a minimum so an updated timeline may still be a couple of weeks away.

Other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Devon Toews could be making his return to Colorado’s lineup soon as Niki Ardebili of the Avalanche’s team site notes that the hope is that the blueliner will be activated and make his season debut on Saturday against Columbus. Toews averaged just shy of 25 minutes a game last season for the Avs and would be a timely addition to their back end with Cale Makar now on IR.
  • The Predators have listed (Twitter link) winger Filip Forsberg as week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The veteran suffered the injury in the third period of Tuesday’s game versus Calgary.  Forsberg is in the final year of his contract and is eligible for unrestricted free agency this coming summer so an extended absence certainly wouldn’t help his value.  The 27-year-old was off to a nice start before the injury with seven points in nine games to start his season.
  • Flyers defenseman Ryan Ellis has been ruled out of their next two games, relays Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Originally hoped to not miss any time, this will be the sixth and seventh games that the 30-year-old has missed as a result of his lower-body injury.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Los Angeles Kings

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading for the 2021-22 season and beyond.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Los Angeles Kings

Current Cap Hit: $81,040,835 (under the $81.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

D Michael Anderson (one year, $925K)
D Tobias Bjornfot (two years, $894K)
F Arthur Kaliyev (three years, $894K)
F Rasmus Kupari (two years, $863K)
F Vladimir Tkachev (one year, $925K)
F Gabriel Vilardi (one year, $894K)

Potential Bonuses
Anderson: $850K
Bjornfot: $212.5K
Kaliyev: $62.5K
Kupari: $212.5K
Tkachev: $850K
Vilardi: $850K
Total: $3.0375MM

Tkachev was brought in over the offseason to give Los Angeles another offensive threat but he has been in and out of the lineup so far.  If he can lock down a regular spot in the middle six, he’ll have a chance to hit some of his ‘A’ bonuses but will have to work his way back from the minors first.  The 26-year-old has one RFA-eligible year remaining but a return to Russia may be the likelier scenario if he can’t make his way into the lineup on a regular basis.

The other three forwards are much younger and figure to be part of the long-term plans.  Vilardi’s first ‘full’ NHL season in 2020-21 was a decent showing and he was able to stay healthy which was notable.  Given his injury history, he’s a safe bet for a bridge deal next summer while he’ll need to work his way into the top six to have a shot at some of his bonuses.  Kaliyev has managed to hold down a spot in the lineup in the early going but could be shuffled to AHL Ontario at some point as well.  As this is only officially the first year of his deal, a lot can change in terms of what his next deal will be.  Kupari was a first-rounder in 2018 but has only seen limited NHL action so far.  It’s hard to see him playing enough to reach an ‘A’ bonus and as a role player over a core piece, a short-term second contract is likely.

The same can’t be said for Anderson.  He has quickly played his way into a spot in their top four and even with him burning the first year of the contract in a one-game appearance, he should have enough of a track record to have a case for a medium-term deal.  His limited production will keep the price tag down (though his role could allow him to reach some of his bonuses) but something in the $2.5MM to $3MM range is definitely doable.  Bjornfot has seen a lot of action on the third pairing so far in his career but he’s only 20 so it’s not much of a concern from a development perspective.  That said, it doesn’t help from a leverage perspective; he’ll need a big 2022-23 campaign to avoid a bridge contract.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Andreas Athanasiou ($2.7MM, UFA)
F Dustin Brown ($5.875MM, UFA)
D Alexander Edler ($3.5MM, UFA)
F Carl Grundstrom ($725K, RFA)
F Adrian Kempe ($2MM, RFA)
F Brendan Lemieux ($1.55MM, RFA)
F Blake Lizotte ($800K, RFA)
D Olli Maatta ($3.333MM, UFA)*

* – Chicago is retaining another $750K of Maatta’s contract.

It’s interesting how the perception of Brown’s contract has changed.  When it was signed, it seemed a little long but was market value for a power forward.  Then his production dropped sharply and it looked like an anchor contract.  However, over the past few years, he has rebounded to the point where the deal looks decent again.  Turning 38 on Thursday, it’s quite unlikely Brown will come close to this on his next contract – if there is one – but all of a sudden, he has gone from someone that was a buyout candidate to someone that could stick around.  In the meantime, if the Kings are out of playoff contention by the trade deadline, he’ll be an intriguing candidate to be moved and he only has limited trade protection.

Athanasiou’s value has been hard to peg down lately.  Edmonton moved two second-rounders to get him, then the flat cap forced him to be non-tendered where he had to settle for $1.2MM last season before landing a big raise in his final arbitration-eligible year.  There are flashes of the 30-goal upside he has shown before but he’ll need to do that consistently to fare better on the open market next summer.  Kempe hasn’t been able to really build on his production from his entry-level deal; he’s an important middle-six piece but with his numbers being where they are, a longer-term pact next summer should be in the high-$3MM range.  Lemieux hasn’t been able to move off the fourth line too often since joining the Kings last season which makes his $1.65MM qualifying offer plus arbitration rights a potential concern for next summer.  Lizotte and Grundstrom have worked their way into regular roles which should give them a small raise but both should be around the $1MM range on their next contract.

Edler has been a nice complementary part of the back end in the early going this season and at 35, his days of logging heavy minutes are probably coming to an end.  His age makes him a candidate to go year-to-year with the potential for bonuses.  Another contract around this price point is certainly attainable.  The same can’t be said for Maatta who, despite the injuries the Kings have had on the back end this season, can still barely crack their lineup.  His stock has dropped sharply since he signed this deal coming off his entry-level contract and he’ll be looking at closer to the $1MM mark next summer unless he is able to play himself into a regular role.

Two Years Remaining

F Trevor Moore ($1.875MM, UFA)
F Austin Wagner ($1.133MM, RFA)
G Jonathan Quick ($5.8MM, UFA)

Moore earned this contract coming off a career-best year last season where he produced at a third-line level.  That hasn’t been his role for most of his career and he’ll need to stay at that level if he wants to have a chance at a sizable raise on the open market.  Wagner was signed to be an energetic role player after being a regular for most of last season but cleared waivers and is in the minors which doesn’t bode well for his future earnings.

Quick has been a fixture between the pipes for Los Angeles since 2008 but he has struggled considerably over the past few seasons relative to the level he played at in his prime.  At this point, he’s more of a backup than a starter so the current value isn’t there.  That said, this was a team-friendly contract at the beginning including when they won a Stanley Cup so it being an overmarket one now shouldn’t bother them much.

Three Years Remaining

F Viktor Arvidsson ($4.25MM, UFA)
F Anze Kopitar ($10MM, UFA)
D Matt Roy ($3.15MM, UFA)
D Sean Walker ($2.65MM, UFA)

Kopitar has only finished one season above the point per game mark but has been one of the top two-way centers in the league throughout his career and is quietly off to a strong start offensively this season with 13 points through his first nine games.  Considering he’ll be 37 when his next contract starts, it’s unlikely his next contract will be at this price tag but if he’s still a top-six player by then, his drop in pay may not be too sharp.  Arvidsson is coming off a couple of quieter years with Nashville but will have an opportunity to re-establish himself as a legitimate top-six winger with the Kings.  So far, so good on that front and his ability to sustain that over the next three years will determine if he winds up with an extra million or two or having to settle for a bit less as a middle-six piece.

Roy is more of a complementary defender that has been in and out of the top four depending on matchups and injuries and while that isn’t the most exciting of profiles, it’s one that landed him this deal and should give him an opportunity to beat it slightly in 2024 if all goes well.  Right-shot blueliners are hard to come by and teams will pay a small premium for them.  Walker is in a similar situation – he produces a bit more than Roy but doesn’t play quite as much and as they’re very close in age (both are 26), his potential is somewhat similar in terms of earnings.  If he can become a full-time top-four player though, his production could boost him a bit higher than Roy.

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Minor Transactions: 11/03/21

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As teams get further into their seasons, prospects who aren’t seeing a lot of action often become candidates to be sent down to the ECHL simply to get some playing time.  A couple of those moves happened today and are listed in our rundown of recent minor moves.

  • The Sabres won’t be bringing prospect Prokhor Poltapov to North America anytime soon. CSKA Moscow of the KHL announced that they’ve signed the 18-year-old to an extension that runs through the 2024-25 season.  Poltapov was the first pick of the second round (33rd overall) back in July but Buffalo is going to be waiting a while to bring him over now.  As he was drafted out of Russia, the Sabres will hold his rights indefinitely.
  • The Bruins have loaned goaltender Callum Booth to Maine of the ECHL, per the AHL’s transactions log. Booth has made one appearance this season after just playing twice in 2020-21 which is hardly ideal for a prospect so going to a lower level to get some more regular action certainly makes sense from a development standpoint.
  • Golden Knights prospect Connor Corcoran has been loaned to Fort Wayne of the ECHL, their farm team in Henderson announced (Twitter link). The 21-year-old defenseman is in his second professional year but, until now, has been on season-opening injured reserve for Vegas.  As Corcoran didn’t spend any time in the NHL last season, there was no cap charge for his SOIR placement.

Latest On Jack Eichel

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The Jack Eichel trade was “on the one-yard line” yesterday according to Emily Kaplan of ESPN, with the Vegas Golden Knights and Calgary Flames listed as finalists. Both clubs have agreed to allow Eichel to have the artificial disk replacement that he wants, but obviously, the Buffalo Sabres are trying to get the best package possible in return before accepting a trade.

If you were wondering what kind of package could get it done, Kevin Weekes of ESPN tweets that it is his understanding that the Flames have Matthew Tkachuk, an upcoming first-round selection, a player who was a first-round pick, and two prospects on the table. In any Eichel deal, a big-ticket salary (or several smaller ones) would have to be included, not only to open up cap space for the acquiring team but also to get the Sabres over the cap floor. Remember, Eichel is not yet on long-term injured reserve, meaning any acquiring team would need to have the space under the cap to land him before moving him off the roster.

Tkachuk of course would be that big-ticket, especially given his upcoming qualifying offer. When his current three-year, $21MM deal expires at the end of this season, whichever team has his rights will have to issue him a $9MM qualifying offer to retain them. At that point, given Tkachuk has already played in six seasons, he could simply accept the one-year, $9MM deal or go to arbitration to secure a contract that walks him right into unrestricted free agency in 2023.

Eichel isn’t expected to be ready to play for several months after the surgery is performed, meaning whoever does end up with him isn’t getting any help right away. The Golden Knights are dealing with quite a few injuries already, while the Flames are currently 6-1-2 and tied for first place in the Pacific Division. It’s hard to fathom either one making a huge splash right now, but reports have continued to indicate that a deal is on the horizon.

Flames head coach Darryl Sutter meanwhile isn’t giving up any information. When asked about the Eichel speculation today, he told reporters that he’s not aware of any talks and believes it is “just a media thing.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Draft Rankings, Rinne, Stanley Cup

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The 2022 NHL Draft is inching closer and some teams already have their focus set on Shane Wright and the rest of the class. More rankings have come out today, including an update to Sam Cosentino’s list for Sportsnet. Brad Lambert, who was second in October, is now down to 11th on Cosentino’s ranking after a poor start in Finland.

Scott Wheeler of The Athletic doesn’t have him quite so far down, but Lambert certainly isn’t second for him either, as Matthew Savoie takes that spot on Wheeler’s list. That’s not surprising, as Savoie was in the same spot in his September preseason ranking. There are still many months to go before a true consensus starts to take shape, but early returns are interesting to follow.

  • The Nashville Predators will raise another banner to the rafters this season, this time honoring franchise icon Pekka Rinne. The goaltender will have his No. 35 retired on February 24, 2022. Rinne played his entire career in Nashville, appearing in 683 games and posting a 369-213-75 record over parts of 15 seasons. The 2018 Vezina Trophy winner, it’s hard to even imagine anyone else breaking some of the franchise records he holds. Juuse Saros, Rinne’s protege and current starter for the Predators, would need 520 more appearances to match his total–only 71 goaltenders in the history of the league have played 520 games.
  • Brad Aldrich’s name has been crossed out on the Stanley Cup, Ryan Rishaug of TSN confirms. Last week, Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz wrote a letter to Lanny McDonald, head of the Hockey Hall of Fame, asking for Aldrich’s name to be crossed out. In it, he explained that Aldrich’s conduct “disqualified him” from having his name engraved and apologized for submitting it in the first place.

P.K. Subban Fined $15,000 For Tripping

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1:55pm: It appears as though Subban has avoided suspension once again. The DoPS has issued a $15,000 fine for tripping, the maximum allowable under the CBA for this additional incident.

12:15pm: At least twice already this season, P.K. Subban has been involved in tripping incidents that had fans clamoring for a suspension. The first was in the preseason, when Subban appeared to slew foot New York Rangers forward Ryan Reaves, causing an injury. The second came in the regular season against the Calgary Flames’ Milan Lucic, which earned Subban a maximum fine.

Now, Subban appears to be receiving a more serious penalty. The Department of Player Safety has announced that the New Jersey Devils defenseman will have a hearing today for tripping Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks. It is not clear exactly when the trip happened in last night’s game, but Subban was not given any penalties in his nearly 22 minutes of action. Corey Masisak of The Athletic believes it was a collision early in the first period, in which Subban again appears to slew foot a player in the corner.

At the time of his fine, Subban’s coach Lindy Ruff explained that it was “not acceptable” and that the team wouldn’t put up with it. Given that a hearing is taking place, it appears as though the league won’t put up with it any longer either.

Scott Wedgewood Placed On Waivers

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The New Jersey Devils have placed Scott Wedgewood on waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The team activated Mackenzie Blackwood off injured reserve yesterday and no longer require three goaltenders on the roster.

Wedgewood, 29, has played in three games for the Devils this season but allowed nine goals on 75 shots for an .880 save percentage. The minor league veteran has been a strong performer in the past at the minor league level, but shouldn’t be relied on for more than a handful of appearances at the NHL level each season.

There’s perhaps a chance he’s claimed by a team dealing with injury, but Wedgewood doesn’t represent much of an upgrade for most teams around the league. Should he clear, the Devils will likely send him to the minor leagues where he will serve as a part-time option as they continue to develop their younger netminders.

Vitali Kravtsov Loaned To KHL

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The New York Rangers have officially loaned Vitali Kravtsov to Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL, allowing him to spend the rest of their season playing in Russia. Kravtsov had requested a trade earlier this season, failed to report to the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack and subsequently been suspended by the team. In the release, Rangers GM Chris Drury explained the situation:

After discussions with Vitali and his representation, we decided a loan to Traktor was in the best interests of both him and the organization. We think very highly of Vitali and the Rangers development staff will continue to work with him to reach our mutual goal of him some day being a New York Ranger.

Kravtsov released his own statement, which certainly strikes a different tone than many of the reports earlier this year:

I want to thank the Rangers for working with me, and appreciate the open and honest conversations we have had during this process. While this has been a challenging time for me personally, I believe having the opportunity to return to Traktor and work on my game is the best thing for me right now. My main focus is getting better every day to continue towards my goal of playing hockey for the New York Rangers. 

The 2018 ninth-overall pick has never seemed thrilled about the idea of playing in the AHL and to this point has just 39 games for the Wolf Pack, all of them coming in 2019-20. He’s actually spent more time with Traktor than the Rangers organization, even since signing his entry-level deal in 2019. That contract is set to expire at the end of this season, which would potentially allow him to sign a new deal in the KHL, though the Rangers would maintain his exclusive NHL rights through his 27th birthday.

The Rangers were reported to have several trade talks earlier this season but were asking a high price for the young forward. This release suggests that both are willing to try to overcome their differences down the road, but it also could be as simple as the Rangers not wanting to have an asset’s development thrown off track before they can move him for equal value.

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