Janne Kuokkanen Sent To Charlotte Checkers
As we noted in our previous looks at rookies whose contracts were eligible to slide this year, the Carolina Hurricanes have the opportunity to send 19-year old Janne Kuokkanen to the AHL instead of returning him to the London Knights. Kuokkanen played last season for the Knights, but was actually drafted out of the Finnish Liiga and thus was eligible for AHL play. That’s exactly what they’ve done according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, putting a halt on his game counter for this year.
Kuokkanen has played just four games for the Hurricanes this season, fewer than the 10 needed for the first year of his entry-level contract to kick in. Minor league games do not count towards this threshold. Though he’s shown an ability to perform at the NHL level, Kuokkanen was given limited opportunities in the Hurricanes’ lineup, often sitting in the press box while Josh Jooris entered the lineup.
While this ends this short chapter of his NHL career, it by no means guarantees Kuokkanen will be in the AHL long. An injury, or some inconsistent play from one of the veterans could easily lead to another callup. For now though, the teenager will have to find his way along the AHL landscape.
Domingue, Reinhart Placed On Waivers
Monday: Both Domingue and Reinhart have cleared waivers and will be assigned to their respective AHL clubs.
Sunday: Arizona goaltender Louis Domingue and Vegas Golden Knights’ defender Griffin Reinhart were both placed on waivers this morning, according to Elliotte Friedman. Assuming both players clear waivers on Monday, they will be assigned to their respective AHL teams.
Domingue became expendable yesterday after the Coyotes traded for New Jersey Devils goaltender Scott Wedgewood. Domingue has received the lions’ share of minutes in goal for Arizona this year with the injury woes that starter Antti Raanta has sustained. The Coyotes’ backup for the past two years has struggled this year with a 4.33 GAA and a miserable .856 save percentage in seven games, prompting the team to look for a replacement in Wedgewood. The transaction also likely indicates that Raanta might be ready to return to action after having sit out for all, but three games so far this year with multiple injuries.
Reinhart has been one of the Vegas Golden Knights multitude of defensemen who general manager George McPhee has been protecting on their roster, forcing other players such as Shea Theodore to have to sit in the AHL, waiting for an opening. The former fourth-overall pick in the 2012 draft has never been able to break through at the NHL level and along with his size (6-foot-4, 212 pounds) and draft status has been considered to be a guy that could develop into a legitimate NHL player and has been given numerous chances to succeed. However, Reinhart was a healthy scratch for the Golden Knights’ first seven games before they sent him to the Chicago Wolves on a conditioning stint. He has struggled there in two games, prompting the decision to put him on waivers.
Vadim Shipachyov Trade Still A Possibility
When the waiver list came out today, it conspicuously did not include the name of Vadim Shipachyov (or any others for that matter). The Vegas Golden Knights forward is currently suspended for leaving their AHL affiliate, and was considered to be a candidate for contract termination. That would require clearing unconditional waivers, but as Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports there remains the possibility of a trade. Shipachyov signed a two-year $9MM contract this summer, but has played just three games for the Golden Knights so far this season.
Shipachyov started the year on the roster of the Chicago Wolves of the AHL due to his waiver-exempt status, but didn’t report to the team for their first few games. Instead, he stayed in Vegas with his family helping them become accustomed to life in the United States. When he was called up to the Golden Knights, he played three games but didn’t make much of an impression on his coach even while the team continued their torrid start. When sent down this time, he first reported to practice before leaving the team once again. He was subsequently suspended, making a bad situation even more tense.
Should the Golden Knights not be able to find a trade partner, a mutual termination of his contract would likely come with a return to the KHL. It remains very unlikely that he would sign a new contract with someone in the NHL this season, though technically that would be a possibility. Engels reported last night on Sportsnet that he believed Shipachyov’s agent Petr Svoboda was still talking with a few teams trying to help facilitate a trade, though it is not clear how close any deal is.
The Golden Knights have recently waived both Jason Garrison and Griffin Reinhart without incident, sending them through to the minor leagues and opening up roster spots. One of those is expected to be used on Shea Theodore instead of Shipachyov, showing that this isn’t just about roster construction. The team has room to bring him back up if they wanted to, but with how he has reacted recently it may have forced their hands.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Philadelphia Calls Up Samuel Morin
Given the rash of recent injuries on the Philadelphia blue line, it came as no surprise when the Flyers announced this evening that they had recalled rookie defenseman Samuel Morin from the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms. Morin is expected to suit up for the team when they host the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow night.
In Saturday night’s contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Shayne Gostisbehere left early with injury and his status is still unknown. With Andrew MacDonald out long-term with a lower body injury, an extended absence for Gostisbehere would have left the Flyers down two starters with only five defenseman on the roster. Morin rounds that number back up to six and provides Philly with another capable defenseman.
However, the Flyers may need to think about looking around for another defenseman, if they aren’t already. The “future is now” mentality may be exciting, but Philadelphia will square off with the Coyotes tomorrow with three rookies – Morin, Robert Hagg, and Travis Sanheim – and 20-year-old Ivan Provorov, a severe lack of experience on the back end. Add in just two stay-at-home defenders in Radko Gudas and Brandon Manning as their veteran support, and Philadelphia could benefit from another body on the blue line. With four waiver-exempt assets, the Flyers have the flexibility to add another defenseman without causing themselves any sort of roster crunch down the road.
Vegas Expected To Promote Shea Theodore
One positive of all the recent Vegas Golden Knights waiver moves is likely to come out of everything. And that’s TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s report that with veteran defenseman Jason Garrison having cleared waivers today and the team placing defenseman Griffin Reinhart on waivers today, the Golden Knights are expected to recall top prospect defenseman Shea Theodore from Chicago of the AHL today and have him join the team for Monday’s game against the New York Islanders.
Theodore is the 22-year-old prize of Vegas’ expansion draft this summer when they got the 2013 first-round pick from Anaheim in an expansion draft trade in exchange for selecting Clayton Stoner and his pricey contract. Theodore was a key contributor for the Anaheim Ducks last year, especially during their playoff run, putting up nine points in 34 regular season games, but also eight points in 14 playoff games.
While he was one of the team’s top defenders in training camp, the Golden Knights sent Theodore, who is waiver eligible, to the Wolves, while the team sorted out its roster. The blueliner didn’t disappoint while waiting in Chicago, dominating in the AHL. He put up five goals and six assists in eight games and looks ready to take a major role on the Golden Knights 8-1 team.
As for Garrison, who cleared waivers today, the 32-year-old defender has been assigned to Chicago and is expected to play for the Wolves on Monday, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp.
Minor Transactions: 10/29/17
Here’s where we’ll keep tabs on the minor news and notes throughout the day with the most recent moves at the top:
- After a fleury of goaltending moves in the last few days that saw the team trade for New Jersey goalie Scott Wedgewood and place backup Louis Domingue on waivers, Elite Prospects tweeted that the Arizona Coyotes have called up goaltending prospect Hunter Miska today. Miska, who signed in April this year after dominating year at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in which he took the team to the Frozen Four finals, wasn’t fairing as well with the Tucson Roadrunners, where he had a 4.02 GAA and a .884 save percentage in four games. The call-up suggests that starting goaltender Antti Raanta may not be as healthy as the team thought.
- Mark Divver of the Providence Journal tweets that the Boston Bruins will recall Providence Bruins’ goaltender Zane McIntyre today as an emergency backup. The 25-year-old AHL goalie has been called up for this reason before, but has not made it into a game yet for the Bruins. He is currently 4-1 with Providence and has played well, with a 1.81 GAA and a .928 save percentage. Divvers adds that he believes it’s due to the fact that Bruins’ starting goalie Tuukka Rask kept getting run into during Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.
- The Minnesota Wild announced they have also sent three players down to the Iowa Wild of the AHL, including two former first-round picks, including 2015 first-round pick Joel Eriksson Ek and 2016 first-round pick Luke Kunin as well as Zack Mitchell. No corresponding moves have been made yet. Eriksson-Ek who many believed might have a breakout year has struggled in nine games with the Wild. The 20-year-old center has had just one goal and two assists in that span after putting up better numbers in a 15-games stint with the team last year when he put up three goals and four assists. Eriksson-Ek struggled in the preseason and was a candidate to not make the team at one point, but the team instead sent down Kunin instead. Kunin has been going back and forth between Iowa and Minnesota all year. However, Kunin has been more successful lately as his minutes and numbers have started to increase. The 19-year-old has a goal and two assists that all have come recently, as his short-handed goal against the Islanders Thursday makes him the first player in team history to score his first goal short-handed. Mitchell has also been up and down quite a bit this year, helping out the team’s fourth line while the team deals with multiple injuries. Mitchell has a goal and an assist in five games.
- Vancouver Canucks’ general manager Jim Benning announced the team has recalled center Jayson Megna today. The 27-year-old returns to the team after having played in 54 games for Vancouver a year ago, tallying four goals and four assists. He has been with the Utica Comets since the start of the season, putting up an assist in four games this year. The move was expected after the team sent Michael Chaput down to Utica on Friday, leaving the team with only 12 healthy forwards.
- The Colorado Avalanche tweeted that they have assigned forward Andrew Agozzino to the San Antonio Rampage today. He was recalled yesterday for their evening game against the Chicago Blackhawks, but was a healthy scratch. Agozzino has been an offensive force for the Rampage, putting up two goals and six assists in seven games so far this year. He was called up as an emergency forward after the team placed Gabriel Bourque on injured reserve due to an upper body injury.
Reway Clears Unconditional Waivers, To Be Terminated
Sunday: CapFriendly reports that Montreal Canadiens’ prospect Martin Reway has cleared unconditional waivers and the team is terminating his deal.
Saturday: The Canadiens have placed Reway on unconditional waivers for the purpose of mutual contract termination, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link).
Reway missed all of last season with a heart ailment but had made a return to playing this season with Montreal’s AHL affiliate in Laval. The team was easing him into the lineup by avoiding playing him in back-to-back situations but he still suited up in five games, collecting two assists and six penalty minutes along with a -5 plus/minus rating.
However, the 22-year-old left the team on Thursday to ponder his future and with this move, it appears that his preference may be to return to playing overseas at this time. This isn’t the first time this month that the Canadiens have utilized a contract termination as they did so with defenseman Mark Streit after he declined to report to the minors.
Assuming he clears, the Canadiens will be off the hook for the remaining two years of his contract, one that carries a cap hit of just over $700K. It will also drop them to 45 contracts on of the 50-contract limit.
Shipachyov To Be Suspended, Could Be Terminated
After not playing in what was supposed to be his AHL debut Saturday night, Vegas Golden Knights forward Vadim Shipachyov has been officially suspended without pay, according Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. According to Engels, if Vegas does not trade Shipachyov before Monday, the team will likely begin a termination of his contract, forcing him to return to Russia.
As reported yesterday, Shipachyov had practiced Friday with the Chicago Wolves after being assigned there Wednesday with everyone assuming he would make his debut Saturday. Instead, he opted to not play and returned back to Vegas to be with his family.
The 30-year-old center has had a turbulent time since joining the Golden Knights. The former KHL star was expected to be one of the stars on a struggling expansion team when he was signed in May of this year, but instead has had to deal with a logjam of non-waiver eligible players, which forced him to get demoted to Chicago to start the season. He never played for Chicago, however, as he was allowed to stay in Vegas until the team could fix their roster issues. Three games later, Shipachyov made his debut and scored his first and only goal of the season.
However, Shipachyov’s playing time began to diminish from that point on as he was criticized by his coach, Gerard Gallant, for struggling to adjust to the NHL game and was again re-assigned to Chicago when scorer Jon Marchessault returned from IR last week.
Western Notes: Vlasic, Shipachyov, Kossila, Oleksy
The San Jose Sharks seem to have faired well on a five-game East Coast road trip and the team is 5-5. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) released his 10 Sharks observations, and is quick to lodge his complaint on the team’s usage of veteran defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who he believes should not be used on the power play any more.
While Kurz writes that he isn’t taking away from Vlasic’s defensive game as he is fantastic at covering other team’s top players, he points out that he is the wrong guy for the power play and has been for some time. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Vlasic has played 169:25 minutes of ice time on the power play for San Jose, sixth-most on the team. He has one goal and seven assists in those two-plus years on the power play and just a lone assist this year in 25 minutes of power play time.
The team needs to look for a younger defenseman to take over that role on San Jose’s second power play unit and Kurz pointed to rookie Joakim Ryan as a possible candidate. While the 24-year-old has been pointless so far this season, Ryan led the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda in shots on goal last season with 185. His 10 goals and 39 assists last year, suggest he might be able to handle that role.
- The Vadim Shipachyov saga isn’t over yet. Expected to skate tonight with the AHL Chicago Wolves after being assigned there Wednesday by the Vegas Golden Knights, the 30-year-old playmaker is not in tonight’s lineup for the Wolves in their game against the Milwaukee Admirals, according to Jesse Granger of The Las Vegas Sun. Chicago has not specified why he isn’t in the lineup. However, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, Shipachyov will not play and is returning to Las Vegas to be with his family. He did practice with Chicago yesterday, which is why he was expected to play today. The KHL veteran had been assigned at the start of the year to Chicago, but didn’t report and Vegas allowed him to stay in Vegas. However, there is no indication the team had planned to allow him the same courtesy this time around.
- The Anaheim Ducks announced they have reassigned center Kalle Kossila and defenseman Steven Oleksy to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Two moves had to be made after the team activated both Sami Vatanen and Ryan Miller for tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kossila, played in two games for Anaheim this week, putting up a goal and an assist. The 24-year-old had two goals and four assists in five AHL games. Oleksy was called up Thursday, but did not play. The 31-year-old blueliner has two goals and two assists in five games for the Gulls.
Eastern Notes: Smith-Pelly, Andersen, Fedun
A few days ago, Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz hinted that bottom-six winger Devante Smith-Pelly might be nearing a promotion to a better line. Well, NBC Sports’ Tarik El-Bashir writes that tonight will be that promotion as the 25-year-old has been moved onto the team’s top line alongside Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov in their game against the Edmonton Oilers.
Smith-Pelly, who came to Washington this offseason, has had a very inconsistent career, starting when he was a highly-touted prospect and was drafted in the second round in 2010 by the Anaheim Ducks. Despite his junior success and his success at the AHL level, the winger had trouble figuring things out at the NHL level and quickly found himself bouncing around different teams. He signed a one-year, $650K deal with Washington this offseason after a one-year stint in New Jersey a year ago in which he tallied just nine points in 53 games.
Now, with the Capitals, he has started to show some of his skills and has earned the trust of Trotz. While he’s yet to score a goal, the belief is that his talents might be a perfect fit alongside Ovechkin and Kuznetsov. Smith-Pelly will replace Jakub Vrana, who moves to the team’s second line next to T.J. Oshie and Niklas Backstrom, who is returning after missing a game due to illness.
“He deserves it. He’s put in the work. His game is such that he needs to move up in the lineup,” Trotz said on Smith-Pelly’s promotion.