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Archives for February 2023

San Jose Sharks Reassign Nick Cicek

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Feb 21: Cicek has been returned to the AHL today, but Kaut stays for now. The latter’s San Jose debut went well, with Kaut playing more than 14 minutes in a win against the Seattle Kraken.

Feb 20: The San Jose Sharks may have a few absences today as Timo Meier deals with an upper-body injury, and Kevin Labanc was away for the birth of a child. Martin Kaut and Nick Cicek have been recalled from the minor leagues to give them some extra bodies.

This is Kaut’s first recall with the Sharks since being acquired last month from the Colorado Avalanche. In seven games with the San Jose Barracuda, the 23-year-old forward has put up six points – continuing his history of strong play in the minor leagues. Selected 16th overall in 2018, Kaut has never been able to translate that production to the NHL, however, scoring just three goals in 47 career games with the Avalanche.

In San Jose, he might have a much bigger opportunity, especially if the Sharks decide to sell several assets at the deadline. The story isn’t completely written on Kaut yet, but time is running out for him to live up to the sky-high potential from his draft year. He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer and turns 24 before next season is set to begin, so if he wants to be a regular with the Sharks, this may be his best opportunity to prove it.

Cicek has bounced back and forth all season, playing in 15 games so far for the Sharks and recording four assists. The undrafted defenseman has shown well during his short professional career, adding physicality to the lineup in limited minutes. Still just 22, it has been an impressive rise for the former Portland Winterhawk, though the offense he produced at the AHL level in 2021-22 has completely disappeared. Through 21 games with the Barracuda this season, Cicek has just a single assist.

Calgary Flames Recall Walker Duehr; Move Michael Stone To IR

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After being seen in a walking boot recently, Calgary Flames defenseman Michael Stone has been moved to injured reserve. To fill his spot on the roster, Walker Duehr has been recalled from the minor leagues.

Stone, 32, has been a regular in the Flames lineup this season after playing just a handful of games in each of the last four seasons. With 46 appearances and ten points, he has played and scored the most since 2017-18, even if he only averages a little over 13 minutes in those games. The veteran defenseman has been rather effective in that depth role, one he now cedes to Dennis Gilbert for the time being.

Both Stone brothers are now on injured reserve, as Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone was also recently shifted there. Their next meeting, which would have been on Thursday, will have to wait.

Duehr, 25, has appeared in eight games this season for the Flames, scoring two goals. The undrafted forward has 15 goals and 26 points in 41 games with the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL, enough to earn him a little more time in the NHL. With three road games coming up this week, the Flames needed an extra body. He’ll get some nice bonus pay, even if he doesn’t get into the lineup on a regular basis.

Mark Jankowski Clears Waivers

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Feb 21: Jankowski has cleared and can now be returned to the minor leagues.

Feb 20: The Nashville Predators have placed Mark Jankowski on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Jankowski cleared at the beginning of the season but would need to again before being assigned to the minor leagues.

The 28-year-old forward was scratched for yesterday’s game against the Minnesota Wild and hasn’t been in the lineup for a week now, as the team leans on younger options in the bottom six. If the club wanted to add another player to the roster, they need to send someone down, as they are currently carrying the limit of 23. Jankowski seems a reasonable bet to clear, again, given his lack of production the last several years, so he is likely headed back to the Milwaukee Admirals.

With just seven points this season, the 2012 first-round pick seems ages away from the 32-point campaign he recorded in 2018-19 with the Calgary Flames.The big-bodied forward hasn’t been able to establish himself as much of a contributor ever since, racking up just 30 total points in the four years since.

Nashville is an interesting team to watch at deadline time, given their struggles this season, aging veterans on big contracts, and limited cap space moving forward. At some point they will likely have to dismantle some of the core they have built. Whether that comes in the next two weeks, or in the summer, remains to be seen. Jankowski getting waived over some of the other waiver-exempt options might be the first sign that they are ready to transition to a younger group on a regular basis.

Latest On Vladislav Gavrikov

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Despite some conflicting reports, it does seem as though there has been movement in the Vladislav Gavrikov trade watch. The Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman has been held out of the lineup for several games, and Aaron Portzline of The Athletic writes that he has “essentially already been traded.” The acquiring team just has other transactions to pull off before the deal can be made official.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period tweets that the team is the Boston Bruins, reporting that the two clubs have the framework of a trade in place. Boston is working to clear cap space, but Pagnotta notes that the Blue Jackets won’t wait around forever. Matt Porter of the Boston Globe adds that no official deal is in place, though the two teams have discussed Gavrikov.

The Bruins have just $1MM in LTIR relief and only 21 players on the roster, meaning a cap-clearing move would likely have to be made to fit Gavrikov in at all. That is, of course, unless the double-retention strategy that teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs have used comes to pass, though that would require even more assets from the Bruins.

Rumors have been swirling around the Bruins for weeks, with most pointing to left defense as the spot they will target in any deadline deals. Jakob Chychrun’s name had been thrown around, but Gavrikov has a considerably lower cap hit and will likely require fewer assets to acquire. That’s not to say he’ll be cheap, as we’ve seen with physical defensive defensemen in the past. Every contender wants to add depth at the deadline, and there are usually only a handful of defenders on the market capable of playing upwards of 20 minutes a night.

MacKenzie Entwistle Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Chicago Blackhawks have made a couple of announcements this morning, moving Mackenzie Entwistle to injured reserve retroactive to February 14 and revealing that Reese Johnson has been put in the concussion protocol.

Entwistle, 23, has been out for the past week with a wrist injury but was skating on his own before the rest of the Blackhawks hit the ice this morning. The young winger has collected seven points in 46 games, while racking up 88 hits in a depth role. There will likely be plenty of opportunity for players like him down the stretch if Chicago decides to sell several veteran forwards. Still, he’ll have to be healthy enough to take advantage.

Johnson, meanwhile, is in a similar situation as a depth forward on the NHL roster. The 24-year-old has six points in 46 games and leads the club with 142 hits. On Sunday against Toronto, he played over 11 minutes and recorded six hits, three blocks, and a shot on goal. It is unclear how long he’ll be out, but it seems likely that a recall is coming because of the Entwistle IR designation.

The Blackhawks play at home tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights before traveling to Dallas, San Jose, Anaheim, and Arizona on a long road trip.

Cale Makar Enters Concussion Protocol

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For the second time in less than two weeks, Colorado Avalanche superstar Cale Makar has entered the concussion protocol. Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed on Denver radio that Makar experienced delayed symptoms, just like he did earlier this month. He is out for now as the team continues to monitor the effects of this latest issue.

Makar had just returned to the Avalanche lineup but collided with Alexey Toropchenko in the third period of Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. As Peter Baugh of The Athletic reported, it wasn’t the concussion spotter who pulled him from the game initially; Makar believed his nose was cut by his visor and went to the room on his own before eventually returning.

The 24-year-old has logged an incredible amount of ice time for Colorado this season, averaging close to 27 minutes a night in his 46 appearances. Those appearances have unfortunately been limited in recent weeks and are now unclear moving forward.

The Avalanche can’t really afford to lose him for very long. The team is in third place in the Central but has a very tenuous grasp on that position, with the Minnesota Wild behind them. Sure, the rest of the defending champions are good enough to keep them in a playoff spot, but Makar is the engine that makes everything run, playing nearly half the game and contributing a ton at both ends of the rink.

Two concussions in such a short period is a scary thought and one that should keep Makar out for a little while as they make sure he won’t have any lingering effects.

Edmonton Oilers Recall Vincent Desharnais

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After playing Sunday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche shorthanded, the Edmonton Oilers earned themselves another emergency recall that is exempt from the cap. The catch is that it can only be a player with a cap hit of $850K or lower. Luckily, Vincent Desharnais falls right at that threshold and has been recalled today to give the team an extra defenseman.

It might seem like savvy cap management, getting Desharnais and Devin Shore up for no hit, but the Oilers have had to play multiple games shorthanded now, and have lost both by a small margin. The club is coming off three-straight extra-time losses and is now 4-1-5 in their last ten.

For an NHL team to get themselves into this kind of situation is rather surprising, given how much time they had to clear cap space while Kailer Yamamoto was injured. Should anyone else experience minor injuries, the team would likely be forced to play shorthanded again.

As the deadline approaches, the team will have to consider making a cap-clearing move of some sort if they want to improve the group in any fashion.

For now, the big, bruising Desharnais will get back into the lineup, after showing pretty well earlier this year. The 6’6″ defenseman recorded four assists and 17 penalty minutes in 12 games, registering an impressive +9 rating despite playing just 12 minutes a night.

Golden Knights Transfer Mark Stone To LTIR

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At the beginning of the month, Golden Knights winger Mark Stone underwent back surgery with no timetable for his return.  That was certainly a big blow as the captain has 38 points in 43 games so far this season.  Now, the team has made the anticipated move as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve placed the veteran on LTIR.  In doing so, Vegas now has an extra $9.5MM in spending room while their LTIR pool now eclipses $23.5MM with Shea Weber, Robin Lehner, and Nolan Patrick also on there.  They’ve already used $750K of that with today’s emergency recall of goaltender Michael Hutchinson.

With the trade deadline now less than two weeks away, this gives Vegas a boost in what they’re allowed to spend; while many of the other contenders are in either dollar-in, dollar-out situations or have limited flexibility, the options that the Golden Knights now have are much more plentiful.  Of course, going that route will come with some risks as well.  If GM Kelly McCrimmon goes and spends that money, Stone likely won’t be able to come back for the rest of the season as Vegas would have to get back into compliance before they could activate him.  The only way that could happen in that situation is if more players are out long-term and have high enough cap hits to offset Stone’s AAV.

Stone was actually in this same situation last year.  He was dealing with a back injury and went on LTIR with Vegas tap-dancing around the LTIR limit all season long; he was only able to return when three regular veterans landed on there late in the year.  It’s too early to say if that could be an option this time around as he remains out indefinitely.  But in the meantime, the Golden Knights now have considerably more options heading into the trade deadline than they did a month ago when Stone was still in the lineup.

Trade Deadline Primer: New Jersey Devils

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The trade deadline looms and is now less than two weeks away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the New Jersey Devils.

After a disappointing 2021-22 campaign that saw New Jersey finish just two points out of last in the Metropolitan Division and 37 points out of a playoff spot, expectations weren’t particularly high heading into 2022-23.  Sure, GM Tom Fitzgerald made a few moves to shore up the roster but making up that type of deficit in a single season just doesn’t happen very often.

The Devils, however, will be one of the exceptions to that thought as they are in the mix for first in the division and are comfortably ahead in the Wild Card standings as well.  They’ve become one of the top-scoring teams in the league while also being one of the stingier defensive ones which is a great combination to have.  As a result, it’s safe to say that they will be adding to their group in the coming days.

Record

37-14-5, 2nd in the Metropolitan

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$2.93MM in LTIR relief, 0/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2023: NJ 1st, NJ 2nd, NJ 4th, NJ 5th, NJ 6th, NJ 7th
2024: NJ 1st, NJ 2nd, NJ 3rd, NJ 4th, NJ 5th, NJ 6th, NJ 7th

Trade Chips

Let’s start with an easy one.  Andreas Johnsson has spent most of the season in the minors thanks to a $3.4MM AAV that is a bit on the high side.  While he doesn’t have much in the way of standalone value – he has cleared waivers twice this season after all – he’s a strong candidate to be included as salary ballast if the Devils bring in a pricey upgrade.

While many teams will be focusing on rentals that will be eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer, there is an expectation that New Jersey is open to bringing in someone that could be part of their longer-term future.  Those players often come with high price tags so young winger Alexander Holtz is sure to grab some attention.  Things haven’t gone according to plan for him this season as he has seen limited action in the NHL and hasn’t been able to produce much.  However, he’s only in the first year of his entry-level deal so the seventh-overall pick in 2020 still has plenty of runway left in his development.  Moving Holtz would certainly sting but it stands to reason that if he goes, they’d be getting a critical win-now piece in return.

The Devils are facing a decision this summer when it comes to Mackenzie Blackwood.  The netminder has shown flashes in the past but has struggled once again this season and has fallen behind Vitek Vanecek on the depth chart.  His qualifying offer of $3.36MM might be too much for them to tender so it’s possible that he could be included as salary ballast as well to facilitate a trade.  A team or two might want to take a closer look at him as well to see if he could be part of their plans beyond this season.  The Devils have Nico Daws and Akira Schmid in the minors who both have NHL experience or they could turn around and add another veteran netminder if they were to part with Blackwood.

As for some other prospects that could go, defenseman Nikita Okhotyuk could draw some interest.  The 22-year-old has seen NHL action in each of his first two seasons and plays with the type of physical edge that could have some teams wondering if he could fit on their third pairing down the road.  Forward Graeme Clarke is having a breakout season with AHL Utica and at 21, his stock is on the rise.  In a smaller move, he’d be a forward that teams will likely be calling about.

Other Potential Trade Chips: F Nolan Foote, F Nikola Pasic, F Tyce Thompson, D Reilly Walsh

Team Needs

1) Top-Six Winger: There’s a reason New Jersey has been linked to some prominent forwards, they’re looking to add an impact piece.  Ondrej Palat has been injured for most of the season and has been inconsistent when he has played.  Dawson Mercer, Tomas Tatar, and Yegor Sharangovich are holding their own in the top six but pushing more of them onto the third line would deepen their attack.  There’s a definite spot to fill and it could go a long way toward making their forward group even more potent heading into the postseason while taking some pressure off Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier.

2) Defensive Depth: While it’s widely expected that the Devils will sign Luke Hughes once his college season is finished, the back end of their back end isn’t the deepest.  Okhotyuk and Kevin Bahl have both seen action this season and the underlying numbers haven’t been great.  Adding a veteran sixth defender would give them some insurance in case of injuries and if it’s a stay-at-home defender, it could also give them a chance to mix and match a little bit depending on their opponent.  There’s a good chance that the bulk of their cap space will be used to add up front which should have Fitzgerald shopping in the lower-cost options in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Vegas Golden Knights Recall Michael Hutchinson

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An unfortunate theme in recent seasons for the Vegas Golden Knights has returned. As the Las Vegas Sun’s Danny Webster reports, goalie Adin Hill is banged up after the team’s last game Saturday, and the Golden Knights have recalled Michael Hutchinson from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.

Hill played the entirety of Saturday’s win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Still, he didn’t practice today after taking a “bump” during the game, head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters today.

If Hill can’t dress for tomorrow’s road tilt against the Chicago Blackhawks, Vegas will momentarily be down to their third- and fourth-string netminders. Starter Logan Thompson is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained over a week ago. Hutchinson would back up Laurent Brossoit, who’s also yet to play an NHL game this season after slipping behind Thompson and Hill on the team’s depth chart.

None of that considers Robin Lehner, who remains on long-term injured reserve with a hip injury and won’t play this season.

Hutchinson, 32, has played just seven games for the Silver Knights this season after signing a two-way contract with Vegas as an unrestricted free agent last summer. He also appeared in two games for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup tournament. A veteran of 137 NHL games and 209 AHL games, Hutchinson has just one win and a .897 save percentage in Henderson this year.

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