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Archives for March 2022

AHL Shuffle: 03/04/22

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Seven games grace the NHL schedule this evening, including a big matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks. After some impressive work by other teams, Vegas and Anaheim are now fighting to try and keep pace in the Pacific Division. The Ducks, in particular, are at risk of falling out of the race, as they currently trail not only Vegas but also the Dallas Stars in a battle for the final wild card spot. As they and other teams prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Mac Hollowell from the AHL, giving them an extra defenseman for the game tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks. Hollowell has been good for the Toronto Marlies this season, racking up 18 points in 29 games. If he got into a game, it would be his NHL debut.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have placed goaltender Andrew Hammond on injured reserve. Hammond suffered a lower-body injury in the team’s overtime win over the Calgary Flames. In a corresponding move, the Canadiens recalled goaltender Cayden Primeau from the AHL’s Laval Rocket on an emergency basis.

Metropolitan Division

  • The Washington Capitals have returned Zach Fucale to the AHL, recalling Axel Jonsson-Fjallby in his place. Fucale’s assignment suggests that Ilya Samsonov is okay and will be able to dress for tomorrow’s game after leaving practice earlier this week. Jonsson-Fjallby has played in nine games this season for the Capitals, but is still looking for his first NHL goal.

Central Division

Pacific Division

  • The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled Jake Leschyshyn once again, bringing up the young forward for the second time this month. Leschyshyn has played 20 NHL games this season, scoring one goal and four point.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have recalled 2019 8th overall pick Philip Broberg from the Bakersfield Condors. Broberg, 20, has been up-and-down from Bakersfield for much of this season. He has had a good year for the Oilers’ AHL affiliate, with 19 points in 27 games, but that offense hasn’t translated to the NHL, where he has only a single point to his name in 17 career games.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Michael Del Zotto Drawing Interest

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When it comes to the Ottawa Senators and the trade deadline, most point to Nick Paul, Chris Tierney, and the rest of the pending unrestricted free agents as the most likely targets. But there is another name, buried on the organizational depth chart, that should always be considered a trade candidate at deadline time. Michael Del Zotto, who has been traded three other times in his career, is drawing calls from around the league according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia.

Signed to a two-year, $4MM contract last July, things haven’t worked out for Del Zotto in Ottawa, where he has played just ten games this season. Instead, he’s spent most of the year in the minor leagues with the Belleville Senators, racking up nine goals and 22 points in 20 games for the minor league club. It’s something of a new experience for the 31-year-old defenseman, who stepped directly into the NHL in 2009 and stayed there, save for a brief 11-game tenure more than a decade ago.

In all, Del Zotto has more than 700 games of NHL experience and could still be a valuable depth addition for a contender looking for defensive help. The fact that he can still run a powerplay would give him a utility factor as an extra player, something that obviously attracted the St. Louis Blues in 2019 when they added him prior to their playoff run. Del Zotto wouldn’t end up playing for the Blues in the postseason, but his name is still on the Stanley Cup, a nice reward for the seven total games he played for the franchise.

It will be interesting to see what kind of market there would be for the veteran defenseman, given he’s signed through the 2022-23 season as well. That contract carries a cap hit of $2MM, meaning to even trade him the Senators may have to be willing to eat some of the remaining money. But for a contender trying to squeeze out value at the margins of a roster, you could probably do worse than a player with his level of experience.

Latest On Mark Giordano

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In recent weeks, the Seattle Kraken made the decision that they would be trading Mark Giordano. He and Ron Francis, Kraken general manager, sat down and discussed the future and came to the conclusion that the team would trade its first captain, thinking of the future of the franchise above all else. Emily Kaplan of ESPN reports that though Giordano has a 10-team no-trade clause, he “has not even bothered giving it” to Francis and the Kraken front office, as he expects to go to a contender.

Kaplan lists the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, and Carolina Hurricanes among those who have shown the most interest.

Giordano, 38, was a Norris Trophy winner in 2018-19, and still is producing at a high level for the Kraken. With 23 points in 50 games he is their highest-scoring defenseman, and with more than 21 minutes of ice time a night, he plays more than everyone except Adam Larsson. Any acquiring team wouldn’t likely be asking him to do as much, which could perhaps improve his performance even further for a short postseason run.

The Rangers have been linked to basically every player on the market this year as they try to parlay an incredible season by Igor Shesterkin into true contender status. With the relative youth of their blueline–Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller, Braden Schneider, Libor Hajek, Nils Lundkvist, and Zac Jones are all 24-and-under–Giordano would offer something that they don’t have in spades: experience.

In Toronto, the Maple Leafs already have Giordano’s old partner in T.J. Brodie, the player who helped him to that Norris season a few years ago. With Jake Muzzin’s future up in the air after suffering multiple concussions, a Giordano-Brodie pairing could actually be considered the top unit, freeing Morgan Rielly to play in more offensive situations.

For Florida, adding one more defenseman could put them over the top as they’re already one of the deepest teams in the league at every position. With Aaron Ekblad, MacKenzie Weegar, and Gustav Forsling already in place, Giordano would likely be able to feast on more manageable minutes and matchups. The same could be said about Carolina, though Kaplan notes Francis may be loath to help his old club.

In St. Louis, the loss of Scott Perunovich and the disappointing play of Marco Scandella has opened up a potential spot on the left side to add a defenseman. Head coach Craig Berube was almost even a teammate of Giordano’s decades ago, playing two final seasons in Calgary just a year before the undrafted defenseman joined the organization. With a style predicated on quick puck movement and physicality, the veteran Giordano could actually seem like a perfect fit for the Central Division club.

Snapshots: Sabres, Maccelli, Cooper

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There’s no doubt that the Buffalo Sabres will be sellers once again at this year’s Trade Deadline, but there have been many questions posed about how many desirable assets the Sabres actually have. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta can report, though, that Buffalo is “taking calls” on a good portion of their defense core, including Colin Miller, Mark Pysyk, Robert Hagg, and Will Butcher, who are all pending unrestricted free agents. Miller and Pysyk especially have had good results this season, and could command at least a mid-round pick and pose as solid depth for contending teams. The team has also received interest in power-play specialist and pending restricted free agent Victor Olofsson, per Pagnotta. While it may seem surprising that the Sabres would currently be willing to deal a young forward, it looks like Olofsson’s inconsistency and poor defensive play are making the Sabres front office question his future with the team.

More notes from the league on a sleepy Thursday:

  • Matias Maccelli, who’s torn up the AHL this season with the Tucson Roadrunners, is making his NHL debut tonight for the Arizona Coyotes and rightfully so. He’s not exactly a household name, even among prospect aficionados, but the organization is high on him, said general manager Bill Armstrong in a radio appearance today. He’ll come into the team’s training camp next season with the chance to start the season in the team’s top six. He’s getting a look there tonight, as well, lining up alongside Alex Galchenyuk and Phil Kessel for his NHL debut. Maccelli has 14 goals and 41 assists for 55 points in 42 AHL games.
  • A relative rarity nowadays, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was ejected near the end of the second period from tonight’s game against Pittsburgh after getting into a verbal spat with referee Wes McCauley. It’s something to watch out for in the coming days, as the incident will likely be followed up with a fine from the NHL.

Oilers Place Ryan Nugent-Hopkins On IR, Activate Kyle Turris

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The Edmonton Oilers have performed a roster swap of sorts, moving Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to injured reserve in order to activate veteran forward Kyle Turris, as per the team.

Nugent-Hopkins has already been on the shelf for about a week with an upper-body injury suffered on February 26th against the Florida Panthers, causing him to leave the game after just three shifts. It’s his second injury-related absence this season after a lower-body injury kept him out for most of January.

Turris, who has just a goal and three assists in 22 games this season, has played just one game since January 5th. He subsequently entered COVID protocol, played one game, and then suffered an undisclosed injury that’s sidelined him for around a month.

With Nugent-Hopkins still out of the mix for a little while yet, the team will need to rely more on wingers such as Kailer Yamamoto and Warren Foegele to up their production. Yamamoto has especially lagged in the points department this season, notching just 11 goals and nine assists in 53 games despite getting consistent top-six usage.

As the Oilers have been icing 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the past while, though, it’s a natural fit for Turris to potentially get his feet back under him with some game action.

Trade Deadline Primer: Anaheim Ducks

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As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make?  We continue our look around the league with the Anaheim Ducks.

The youth is here in Southern California, perhaps a bit earlier than planned. Jamie Drysdale, Trevor Zegras, and Troy Terry are just part of the young core that’s helped to spearhead the Ducks into the playoff conversation early in the season, although things have begun to fade recently. Sonny Milano and Isac Lundestrom have also made sizable contributions to the Anaheim lineup this year.

But Anaheim has stuttered in recent weeks, now under .500 in their last ten games and two points out of a playoff spot despite playing more games than everyone else. Now in battle with more experienced teams like Nashville, Dallas, and Edmonton, the Ducks simply aren’t in a position anymore to consider selling assets for a playoff run, if they ever were. How the Ducks and new general manager Pat Verbeek navigate the Trade Deadline in this stepping stone season could have big dividends for their future.

Record

26-21-9, (.545), fifth in Pacific Division

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$38,364,807 today, $55,628,970 in full-season space, 0/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2022: ANA 1st, ANA 2nd, ANA 4th, ANA 5th, TOR 5th, NSH 6th
2023: ANA 1st, ANA 2nd, ANA 3rd, ANA 4th, ANA 5th, ANA 6th

Trade Chips

The name that likely jumps off the page for many NHL fans is defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who’s in the final season of a $5.21MM AAV deal and is a pending UFA. However, the Ducks do hope to extend Lindholm, so unless it becomes apparent in the next few weeks that an extension isn’t possible, he likely won’t be moved.

One forward who could likely get shipped out of town after many years of speculation is Rickard Rakell. He’s also a pending UFA with a cap hit of $3.79MM, an extremely reasonable hit for Rakell, who has 15 goals and 26 points in 46 games this season. He would provide great middle-six depth for any team looking to add another scoring winger to their lineup, and with Anaheim’s breadth of forward prospects, he may not really fit into their long-term plan at this point.

There’s also Nicolas Deslauriers, who was nearly a Pittsburgh Penguin at last year’s trade deadline. Now a pending UFA as well with a $1MM cap hit, the gritty fourth-line checking winger is the type of player playoff teams salivate over to complete their lineup. He has nine points in 53 games this season.

There’s also the question of captain Ryan Getzlaf, who’s again a pending UFA after signing a one-year deal to remain in Orange County. He’ll likely control his own destiny, but if he wants to chase another Stanley Cup in what could be his last season, Anaheim would likely oblige.

Defenseman Josh Manson is definitely another trade candidate and another pending UFA. One of the better defensive defensemen in the league, he can handle top-four minutes with ease and can play a bruising game. But he’s on the shelf right now with an injury, and it’s uncertain whether he’ll be healthy before the Trade Deadline. If he’s not, he can’t be moved while on injured reserve.

Team Needs

1) Defense Prospects — Anaheim’s starting to get good things out of their young defensemen like Drysdale and Josh Mahura. But the team’s prospect pool remains top-heavy as players like Jacob Larsson begin to flame out. The team’s best defensive prospect right now is likely Jackson LaCombe out of the University of Minnesota, and while he’s solid, they could use another piece or two like him to help round out their list of prospects. If teams are willing to part with players instead of draft picks in any deadline deals Anaheim makes, they’d do best to shoot for a ’D’.

2) More Draft Picks — The Ducks only have six selections in each of the next two drafts, trading away their 2022 3rd for an additional 2021 3rd last year and trading away their 2023 7th for Alexander Volkov, who has since departed the organization. The team should definitely be in a contending position in three or four years at this trajectory, and they’ll need more players from these upcoming drafts to step into the lineup on cheap, entry-level deals as they begin to spend to the salary cap again.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Carolina Hurricanes To Host Washington Capitals In 2023 Stadium Series

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After a long series of COVID-related postponements and cancellations, the Carolina Hurricanes will finally be hosting their long-rumored first outdoor game. The NHL issued a press release today stating that Carolina will host the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, on February 18, 2023.

Carolina was originally supposed to host the 2021 Stadium Series game, but the league made the decision to postpone it prior to the start of the season in December of 2020 as the threat of COVID still loomed largely. General manager Don Waddell then reached a mutual agreement with the NHL prior to the 2021-22 campaign to hold the game off again until 2023 to ensure that the game would be played in front of a full house of fans.

For Washington, it’s their fourth outdoor game in franchise history. They’ve yet to lose outdoors, defeating Pittsburgh in the 2011 Winter Classic, Chicago in the 2015 Winter Classic, and Toronto in the 2018 NHL Stadium Series.

It marks the second season in a row that the Stadium Series has gone to a southern U.S. market.

Snapshots: Archibald, Reimer, Mantha

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Josh Archibald has not played a single game at any level this season but is in Edmonton skating after dealing with myocarditis. Mark Spector of Sportsnet sent out a string of tweets today updating the depth forward’s status, including confirming that Archibald is still unvaccinated.

Because of how difficult that makes it for him to play with the Oilers or go on a conditioning loan to the Bakersfield Condors due to cross-border travel, Spector expects Archibald to be traded to a U.S.-based team at some point and suggests his time as an Oiler is effectively over. The 29-year-old forward is a pending unrestricted free agent in the second season of a two-year contract that carries a $1.5MM cap hit. He scored seven goals and 13 points in 52 games last season.

  • James Reimer is considered out week-to-week according to head coach Bob Boughner, who spoke with Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Reimer’s injury further explains why the San Jose Sharks traded for–and subsequently recalled from the AHL–Alex Stalock. Adin Hill is still out with an injury, though Boughner explained that the goaltender “felt good” this morning. Losing Reimer is a pretty hefty blow to the Sharks’ fortunes, as the veteran netminder was having a nice bounce-back season and has a .916 save percentage in 34 appearances.
  • Peter Laviolette wouldn’t confirm whether the Washington Capitals would have Anthony Mantha back in the lineup tonight, but he has been activated from injured reserve. Should he play, it would be his first game since leaving a match against the Florida Panthers on November 4 and just his 11th of the season. The 6’5″ forward had six points in his first ten games before going down and could be a trade deadline-like addition for the scuffling Capitals.

Buddy Robinson Clears Waivers

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March 3: Robinson has cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the minor leagues.

March 2: The Anaheim Ducks have placed Buddy Robinson on waivers today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. This is his second time on waivers in 2021-22, after clearing just before the start of the regular season.

Given that Robinson, 30, has played in 23 games for the Ducks this season, he needed to go on waivers again before heading to the minor leagues. The 6’6″ winger doesn’t play much, but you notice him when he’s out there for Anaheim, racking up hits and generally imposing his will on the opposition physically.

Robinson has even set a career-high with four points this season, taking his total to seven through 44 NHL games. He also has two fighting majors and 43 hits, while averaging fewer than ten minutes a night.

If a team is looking for some size, he can certainly fill that role, but with a limited amount of upside at the NHL level and a whopping $400K minor league guarantee, it seems unlikely that a team would want to nab Robinson at this point. He is much more valuable in the minor leagues, which any claiming team wouldn’t be able to send him until getting him through waivers themselves.

Edmonton Oilers Extend Seth Griffith

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After issuing several contracts to minor league talent yesterday, the Edmonton Oilers have locked up another big part of their Bakersfield Condors roster. Seth Griffith has signed a two-year, two-way contract extension, that will keep him in the organization through the 2023-24 season. As reported by PuckPedia late last night, the financial terms are as follows:

2022-23: $750,000 NHL salary, $450,000 AHL salary
2023-24: $775,000 NHL salary, $450,000 AHL salary

Griffith, 29, has been a top minor league contributor for years, and is having a career year this season for Bakersfield. In 40 games he has scored 20 goals and 52 points, good enough for fourth (tied) in league scoring. He still hasn’t made an impact at the NHL level–playing in just a single game this season–but Griffith is a huge part of the success that the Condors have experienced and will now represent a potential minor league All-Star addition for two more years.

While this won’t help the Oilers directly, there has been a big push to make sure that the minor league affiliates are successful enough to help prospects develop in a winning environment. The Condors were the best team in the AHL’s shortened 2020-21 season and are having another strong campaign, going 22-13-9 so far, good enough for third place in the Pacific Division by points percentage.

Griffith joins Dmitri Samorukov, James Hamblin, and Vincent Desharnais as players who have signed recent contracts with the team, while Alex Stalock was also sent out of town last night. It’s been a busy stretch for Oilers GM Ken Holland and AGM Keith Gretzky, who also serves as the GM of the Condors.

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