Morning Moves: Kloos, Petan, Cracknell
The Minnesota Wild have sent Justin Kloos back to the minor leagues after getting Mikael Granlund back last night. Kloos also played in the game but received fewer than nine minutes of ice time. The 23-year old forward will certainly get another chance eventually at the NHL level, after excelling at the University of Minnesota.
Kloos is a homegrown talent, born in Lakeville, Minnesota and developed in the state high school ranks before heading to Iowa and the USHL. Undrafted, he would eventually find his way back to star as a Golden Gopher, even captaining the UMN team in his final two years. Kloos signed a two-year entry-level deal this spring, and will continue to try and beat the odds to become the latest undersized forward to go from overlooked prospect to NHL contributor.
- The Winnipeg Jets have activated Matt Hendricks from injured reserve, and assigned Nic Petan to the Manitoba Moose. Hendricks is expected to be back in the Jets’ lineup when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night. The 36-year old forward is in his first year with Winnipeg, after spending the previous few season with Edmonton. Though he can’t be relied upon for much offense, he is tough to play against and has always been excellent in the faceoff dot. He’ll likely work his way onto a penalty kill for the Jets, something he’s done relatively well throughout his career.
- Adam Cracknell has cleared waivers for the New York Rangers, something the Dallas Stars couldn’t accomplish earlier this month. The Rangers snagged him and inserted him into the bottom-six, but his role there wasn’t long-lived. After a relatively excellent season a year ago, Cracknell has been held scoreless through the first five games of the season (one for Dallas, four for New York) and now finds himself in limbo. Assigned to the AHL, he’ll join a Hartford Wolf Pack team that is spinning their wheels with a 3-3-1 record.
Poll: Which Player Being Kept In The AHL Is The Biggest Surprise?
Sometimes the NHL can be a cruel mistress. Because of roster constraints, cap situations and contract specifications, players are often pushed down to the AHL out of necessity. It’s unfair, unfortunate and sometimes unexpected.
Today, the Vegas Golden Knights sent Vadim Shipachyov back to the AHL even in the face of his $4.5MM contract. Shipachyov is the victim of the expansion roster, as he’s one of just a handful of players in the organization that are waiver-exempt. The Golden Knights are clearly not willing to lose assets for nothing, and continue to carry nine defensemen on the roster.
Let’s exclude Shipachyov for now, since it’s not even clear whether he will report to the AHL (and it would likely be a landslide poll). He’s off the roster, but he didn’t play for the Chicago Wolves the first time around. Instead, tell us which player who is currently in the AHL is the most surprising to you, whether it be because of skill or salary. We’ve included some of the most obvious candidates, but since it’s almost impossible to list all options make sure to leave any other interesting names in the comments.
Which player being kept in the AHL is the most surprising?
-
Shea Theodore (VGK) 31% (376)
-
Dylan Strome (ARI) 15% (181)
-
Jesse Puljujarvi (EDM) 11% (133)
-
Thomas Chabot (OTT) 10% (117)
-
Kasperi Kapanen (TOR) 8% (93)
-
Samuel Morin (PHI) 6% (68)
-
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (BOS) 4% (47)
-
Jordan Schmaltz (STL) 4% (47)
-
John Quenneville (NJD) 2% (26)
-
Alexei Bereglazov (NYR) 2% (21)
-
Nikolay Goldobin (VAN) 2% (21)
-
Brendan Guhle (BUF) 2% (20)
-
Other (explain in comments) 2% (19)
-
Jakub Jerabek (MTL) 1% (14)
-
Jack Roslovic (WPG) 1% (12)
-
Lucas Wallmark (CAR) 1% (7)
Total votes: 1,202
[Mobile users click here to vote!]
Vadim Shipachyov Assigned To AHL
Amazingly, the Vegas Golden Knights have once again assigned Russian forward Vadim Shipachyov to that AHL, according to SinBin.vegas. With the team welcoming Jon Marchessault back off of injured reserve, a move needed to be made to clear a roster spot. Shipachyov is that move, as the veteran center will return to the AHL and wait for his next opportunity. Whether he actually reports to the Chicago Wolves this time is unclear, as he did not play a game for them on his first minor league stint.
Shipachyov has one point in three games, but head coach Gerard Gallant wasn’t exactly glowing about his play so far. Asked by David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal what he thought of Shipachyov’s first three games, he had this to say:
I didn’t have expectations for him. I know he’s a high [priced] free agent we got this summer and we’d like to see him score more and all that. It’s tough on the guy. He didn’t start here, he started in the minor leagues. Came up and played a few games, and you know he was okay. Wasn’t great, but he was okay. He’s been bounced around a little bit, and we just want him to compete hard and get used to the NHL game. Like I said, it hasn’t been easy right now for him but we’re seven games in so we’ve got to be patient.
The 30-year old center was signed to a two-year, $9MM contract this summer but with the way the Golden Knights are playing they can afford to keep him out of the lineup. The team is 6-1 and has received scoring help from many different sources. Like defenseman Shea Theodore, who remains in the minor leagues despite nine points in five games, Shipachyov will likely have to wait until this hot streak dies down or another injury takes a key player out of the lineup. As waiver-exempt players, both represent asset protection for the expansion club.
Boo Nieves Called Up By New York Rangers
Just after sending Anthony DeAngelo down to the AHL and waiving Adam Cracknell, the New York Rangers have decided on who they’ll bring up to fill the roster spot. Cristoval “Boo” Nieves is on his way up to the team, something many fans wanted right from the start of the season.
Nieves will likely get into the lineup right away when the team takes on the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night, but will have to make quite an impact to turn around the Rangers’ recent fortunes. The team has just two wins on the season and one in their last seven games, while finding it difficult to score on a regular basis. Nieves did contribute offensively at the University of Michigan, but hasn’t found quite the same playmaking ability in the AHL. Through 55 games in the minor league, he has 26 points.
What Nieves will bring, is a big body to slot into the center position for New York. A weak spot after trading away Derek Stepan in the offseason, the depth down the middle has been suspect all year for the Rangers. While Mika Zibanejad does have seven points through ten games, just two of those have come at even strength, where he is being relied upon for nearly 19 minutes a night. If Nieves can find a bit of success, perhaps some of the pressure can be taken off the top two lines and a more balanced attack can be found for the team.
Washington Capitals Recall Stephenson, Place Burakovsky On IR
4:00pm: Burakovsky has undergone successful surgery on a broken thumb, and will be out six to eight weeks. While that’s obviously not good news for the Capitals, it does mean that they’ll likely swap him onto long-term injured reserve whenever Niskanen returns, giving them some additional cap relief.
8:33am: The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Chandler Stephenson from the AHL, while moving Andre Burakovsky to the injured reserve list. Burakovsky was absent from yesterday’s practice with an upper-body injury, expected to be related to the hand he was seen examining during Washington’s game on Saturday night.
Burakovsky has been a disappointment for the Capitals so far this season, scoring just four points in nine games despite getting looks on the top line and powerplay. The team had hoped that he would take a big step forward in the absence of players like Marcus Johansson, but this injury will have that dream put on hold for at least a week.
Stephenson on the other hand has put up six points in six AHL contests, and looks ready to try and win a full-time spot with the Capitals. The 23-year old (who is actually older than Burakovsky) has just 13 NHL games under his belt, and has yet to register a point.
Injuries like this are bad for the Capitals on two fronts. While they obviously weaken the product on the ice, short term injuries also don’t provide any cap relief for the team. With the Capitals so close already to the cap ceiling, they’ve been going in and out of the long-term injured reserve relief from Matt Niskanen. Niskanen was seen skating on his own this morning, meaning that relief is not there to stay. While they obviously have a plan, it will be a tight race all season to stay under the cap.
Snapshots: Koekkoek, Schroeder, Farnham
When the Vancouver Canucks announced that Troy Stecher would be absent from their blueline for at least a month, questions started popping up over who the Canucks would promote to a starting role. While Alex Biega is set to get the first crack at his spot, he’s shown before that he doesn’t bring anything close to the type of game that Stecher was known for. Patrick Wiercioch is also up with the team, but similarly doesn’t represent much upside for the Canucks.
Cue the speculation, and an interesting name out of News 1130’s Rick Dhaliwal. Dhaliwal reports that an agent asked him “if [he has] heard the Canucks are talking to Tampa Bay about Slater Koekkoek.” While it’s not clear if that means they have in fact had any conversations, the possibility is interesting. With Mikhail Sergachev confirmed as staying with the team past the nine-game threshold, there isn’t a ton of ice time for Koekkoek. He’s clearly the odd man out in Tampa’s rotation, but would require waivers to be sent to the minor leagues.
- Jordan Schroeder has indeed been sent to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate, even with the injury to Lukas Sedlak. Schroeder cleared waivers earlier today, and will head to Cleveland to continue his season. The Blue Jackets, now down to 13 forwards, are currently carrying an extra roster spot. Whether that’s filled with another forward, or an eighth defenseman is still to be decided.
- The Ottawa Senators have signed Jack Rodewald to a two-year entry-level contract. Rodewald had been playing with their AHL affiliate Belleville this season on a minor-league deal, but could now be called up to the NHL should his play warrant it. The undrafted forward scored 85 points in his final year of junior for the Moose Jaw Warriors, and has four points in his first five games this season in the AHL.
- Bobby Farnham has signed a professional tryout with the Springfield Thunderbirds according to Mark Divver of the Providence Journal. Farnham had appeared in New York Rangers’ training camp on a tryout earlier this summer, but failed to make the team. The undrafted forward has 67 NHL games under his belt, but is know more for his rough play than his scoring ability. He has just 10 career points, all with New Jersey in 2015-16.
Anthony DeAngelo Sent Back To AHL
The New York Rangers have made another roster move today, sending Anthony DeAngelo down to the AHL. The 22-year old defenseman had played eight games for the Rangers this season, but will now have to ply his trade at the minor league level.
It’s a curious move for the Rangers, opening another roster spot after waiving Adam Cracknell this morning. The team was carrying eight defensemen and dressing seven of them, using DeAngelo as basically a powerplay specialist. Moving forward, the team is likely to go back to dressing 12 forwards, though it’s not clear who they will all be. The team recently sent Filip Chytil down to the AHL, and find themselves in a disappointing 2-6-2 hole to start the year. Waiving Cracknell is one thing, but perhaps another move is needed to give the team some jump.
Whether that move is imminent is unclear, so for now one must assume that the team will insert Paul Carey back into the lineup when they take on the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night. That may not make Rangers’ fans happy, as the 29-year old forward has been held scoreless through his five games this season.
For DeAngelo, this isn’t the first time he’s failed to live up to expectations. Traded first from the Tampa Bay Lightning, and then again this summer from the Arizona Coyotes, the offensive blueliner can’t seem to put it all together at the NHL level. In 47 career games he has 15 points, but is also a -17. While possession statistics may paint a different picture for his overall impact, coaching staffs clearly don’t trust him to log a regular shift.
Minor Moves: Minnesota, Vancouver, Ottawa
More recalls as the day goes on, and teams start filling in roster pieces due to injury or inconsistent play. Here are the latest moves around the NHL.
- The Minnesota Wild have brought up a pair of forwards to help bolster their roster, as the team recalled Justin Kloos and Luke Kunin. As we wrote earlier, there is a chance that Zach Parise undergoes surgery this week and is out long-term, but the team did welcome Mikael Granlund back to practice. Still, with Nino Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle out the team needed reinforcements. Kunin has already been up with the team, playing in three games this year, but Kloos would be making his NHL debut if he gets into a game. The 5’9″ forward signed as an undrafted free agent with Minnesota this spring, but is a homegrown product that played his college career with the Golden Gophers.
- The Vancouver Canucks have brought back Patrick Wiercioch and Thatcher Demko, after sending the former back down just a few days ago. With the Canucks still having two other goaltenders on the roster, the Demko recall is intriguing. Either there is an injury that hasn’t been reported, another move coming, or the Canucks are just positioning themselves as close to the cap as possible before moving players to long-term injured reserve. That would allow them to get the entire benefit, and with Alex Edler, Loui Eriksson and possibly Troy Stecher (who has flown back to Vancouver for further testing after leaving last night’s game) out long-term, the team needs some extra cap space.
- Max McCormick has been recalled by the Ottawa Senators, presumably to help fill in for Bobby Ryan who broke his finger again in Saturday night’s victory over the Maple Leafs. Ryan will be out a month, giving some of the younger players in the Senators system a chance to show what they can do. McCormick, 25, has just 27 games of NHL experience but provides both some scoring touch and a willingness to drop his gloves. The energy forward scored 21 goals last season in the AHL in just 66 games.
- The St. Louis Blues have recalled Beau Bennett, giving the team a 13th forward on the roster. The team sent Ivan Barbashev and Samuel Blais down yesterday, giving the youngsters more ice time to develop. Bennett is still relatively young at 25, but has plenty of NHL experience already under his belt. A first-round pick of the Penguins in 2010, Bennett put up 19 points for the New Jersey Devils last season but wasn’t issued a qualifying offer this summer. The Blues’ signed him to a one-year, $650K contract but sent him to the AHL to start the year. He’ll provide some depth for the bottom-six, and try to show that he belongs in the NHL full-time.
Snapshots: Parise, Mironov, Schroeder
The Minnesota Wild could have some bad news to announce very soon, as Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Zach Parise is considering back surgery to repair a herniated disk. The disk is giving him leg pain, and could take him out for up to two months. Russo reports the update will likely come on Tuesday.
The Wild had Mikael Granlund back in the lineup, but losing Parise for another two months would certainly hurt. Though he’s not the high-flying 45-goal man of his youth, the 33-year old forward is still a very effective two way player and a key part of the Minnesota team. Last year he recorded 42 points in 69 games, marking only the second time he hadn’t cracked 20 goals and 50 points in a non-lockout season since his rookie year. The first was a year lost completely to injury, when he tore the meniscus in his knee and needed surgery in 2010. Hopefully he doesn’t fall to a similar fate in 2017-18.
- Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey tweets that his client Andrei Mironov will be recalled by the Colorado Avalanche today, returning him after just a few days with the San Antonio Rampage. Mironov was sent on a conditioning stint to get him into game action, since he was just sitting in the press box for the Avalanche. The Rampage had three consecutive games this weekend (all against the Texas Stars, a quirk of AHL scheduling), in which Mironov scored two points. He’ll try to get back into the Colorado lineup on a more regular basis in his first year in North America.
- Jordan Schroeder, placed on waivers earlier today by the Columbus Blue Jackets, has also technically been recalled from his conditioning stint. Schroeder played in three games for the Cleveland Monsters, and will likely return to the AHL squad if he clears tomorrow. With him on the roster temporarily the Blue Jackets have 23 men, but are expected to activate Gabriel Carlsson from injured reserve in the next few days.
Mark Jankowski Recalled By Calgary Flames
In the wake of the Jaromir Jagr injury, the Calgary Flames have recalled Mark Jankowski from the AHL’s Stockton Heat. Jagr was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, and will be out at least a week.
To some, this move was already long overdue. Jankowski, a first-round pick of the Flames from the 2012 draft, has done nothing but excel at the AHL level since graduating Providence College in 2016. The 23-year old had 56 points in 64 games as a rookie in Stockton last season, but earned just a one-game trail in the NHL. This season, despite a solid training camp Jankowski was cut from the team to make room (at least in part) for Jagr and other veterans. It didn’t seem to slow him down, as he posted eight points in six games for the Heat and forced another call-up.
Jankowski is a big, in-your-face center who can grind down defensemen and contribute offensively. His 6’4″ frame will give the team even more size up front, something they already don’t lack in. The plan for where he’ll slot into the lineup is unclear, but with the Flames reeling from consecutive losses it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get in right away. The Flames play in Nashville tomorrow night.