Edmonton To Sign Eric Gryba To One-Year Deal
October 12, 11:05am: The Oilers have confirmed the signing, and announced that Gryba has been placed on waivers for purpose of assignment to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL.
October 11, 1:55pm: Gryba will earn $950K in the NHL and $250K in the AHL but comes with a guarantee of $450K, as McKenzie tweets.
According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Edmonton Oilers are about to re-sign defenseman Eric Gryba to a one-year, two-way deal.
Gryba played last season with the Oilers and suited up for 53 games, but was only brought in on a PTO this summer. Still just 28 years old, Gryba hasn’t seen the AHL since 2012-13, but may have to prove that he can still be effective by leading Bakersfield instead of Edmonton.
After the signing of Kris Russell, the team had given Gryba a chance to talk to other teams and see if there was an NHL deal to be had somewhere. Evidently, he hasn’t found a better option than staying in the City of Champions for another year, and waiting for an injury for his chance with the big club.
Final Training Camp Cuts: 10/11/2016
As teams work to get their rosters finalized before today’s 4pm deadline, the final cuts from camps have started to come down.
Buffalo Sabres (via team release)
Alexander Nylander (to Rochester, AHL)
Nick Baptiste (to Rochester, AHL)
Dan Catenacci (to Rochester, AHL)
Brendan Guhle (to Prince Albert, WHL)
Calgary Flames (via team release)
Linden Vey (to Stockton, AHL)
Daniel Pribyl (to Stockton, AHL)
Brett Pollock (to Adirondack, ECHL)
Carolina Hurricanes (via Chip Alexander):
Warren Foegele (to Kingston, OHL)
Chicago Blackhawks (via team release)
Brandon Mashinter (to Rockford, AHL)
Mark McNeill (to Rockford, AHL)
Colorado Avalanche (via team release):
Trent Vogelhuber (to San Antonio, AHL)
Mike Sislo (to San Antonio, AHL)
New Jersey Devils (via team release)
Scott Wedgewood (to Albany, AHL)
New York Islanders (via Arthur Staple)
Adam Pelech (to Bridgeport, AHL)
Ryan Pulock (to Bridgeport, AHL)
Minnesota Wild (via Michael Russo)
Christoph Bertschy (to Iowa, AHL)
San Jose Sharks (via Mike Halford)
Mirco Mueller (to San Jose, AHL)
Nikolay Goldobin (to San Jose, AHL)
Ryan Carpenter (to San Jose, AHL)
Barclay Goodrow (to San Jose, AHL)
Dan Kelly (to San Jose, AHL)
Kevin Lablanc (to San Jose, AHL)
St. Louis Blues (via team release):
Jordan Binnington (to Chicago, AHL)
Vancouver Canucks (via Bob McKenzie)
Tuomo Ruutu (released from PTO)
Emerson Etem (waived for purpose of assignment to Utica, AHL) – per team release
Pulkkinen, Condon Among Those Claimed On Waivers
Many players were claimed off waivers today, as teams make their final adjustments before the season opens.
Teemu Pulkkinen (DET), claimed by Minnesota
Klas Dahlbeck (ARI), claimed by Carolina
Seth Griffith (BOS), claimed by Toronto
Mike Condon (MTL), claimed by Pittsburgh
P.A. Parenteau (NYI), claimed by New Jersey
Pulkkinen especially is an interesting case, since Minnesota was 17th in waiver order, meaning that half the league passed on the AHL sniper. The 24-year old has multiple seasons of 30+ goals in the minor circuit, but has some major concerns about his skating and ability to translate that offense to the NHL level.
With Parenteau, the Devils get a consistent NHL scoring threat that has over 100 goals to his name. Last year, even through injury and on a poor Maple Leafs team, he chipped in 20 and was surprisingly held on to at the trade deadline. This summer, he signed a one-year, $1.25MM deal with the Isles and was expected to see time alongside John Tavares, his former linemate. Instead, he’ll try to work his way up a Devils group that is loaded with goal scoring talent.
Pittsburgh brings in Condon to effectively replace Matt Murray until his hand has healed. Murray broke his hand at the World Cup, and will still be out for the beginning of the season.
Nathan Gerbe Will Not Report To AHL, Contract To Be Terminated
According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Nathan Gerbe will not accept his assignment to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL, and has been put on waivers before terminating his contract. He will instead go play for a team in the NLA (Switzerland). Gerbe was signed to a one-year, $600K deal earlier this summer, but was cut this week from Rangers camp.
Gerbe, one of the shortest players in professional hockey at 5’5″, has never been much of an offensive contributor, only adding 138 points in his 394 career games. What he has brought though, is an excellent energy presence to a bottom-six role, and the kind of checking ability usually found in a bigger player. He has, periodically, been able to chip in double digit goal totals, mostly by going hard to the net with reckless abandon.
In New York, he thought he’d found a home to ply his trade, but instead the speed checker spot has gone to Michael Grabner instead. He’ll take his talents to Europe, where he’ll likely do well on the bigger rink against smaller opponents. Look for him to be back in the NHL next summer on a PTO.
Prospect Notes: Lazar, Mantha, Frk
On the last day before the regular season starts, some final cuts are making their way down the wire. In Ottawa, Curtis Lazar has been assigned to the Binghamton Senators of the AHL as he continues to recover from a bout of mono he’s suffered through this summer. Lazar, 21, has played the last two seasons exclusively in the NHL and shouldn’t be down for long. His 20 points were a solid building block in his development as he continues to grow into his frame.
This is good news for Tom Pyatt, who will debut on the Sens third line according to Brent Wallace of TSN. Pyatt has spent the last two seasons playing in Switzerland, where he found quite a bit of success. 62 points in 92 games there hearkened back his junior days for Saginaw, where he was an effective offensive centerman, even scoring 43 goals one season. The Sens will see if he can contribute on their bottom six as a strong defensive winger who can maybe chip in a few goals.
- In Detroit, the team has finally made the decision to send Anthony Mantha to Grand Rapids official. Many had hoped the former first-round pick would crack the roster this year and make his presence felt as a power forward in the NHL, but he’ll have to wait just a little bit longer. Mantha, 22, has found success at the AHL level the past two seasons and made his debut last year for the Red Wings in a ten-game cup of coffee. He’ll need to develop some more consistency in both ends of the rink in order to get into Jeff Blashill’s lineup, but still has quite a bit of time to develop; power forwards often take a little longer.
- Newest Carolina addition Martin Frk hit the ice for the first time today according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, skating alongside Bryan Bickell and Jay McClement on the fourth line. A former Grand Rapids Griffin himself, Frk is still just 23 years old and possesses a nose for the net. His 27 goals last season put him second on the AHL squad, while chipping in another four points in four playoff games for the Detroit affiliate.
Leafs Notes: Marner, Laich, Brooks
The Maple Leafs will be an interesting team to watch this season as they continue their youth movement and strive to be anything other than the worst team in the league. Among the rookies set to make their mark this season (and there are many) is Mitch Marner, the much talked about prospect from the London Knights. While it’s been expected for weeks that Marner would stay with the Leafs, GM Lou Lamoriello came out today in Kevin McGran’s article with a decisive stance:
He’s made the team. What we’ve seen of him, offensively and defensively, he’s done very well. We’re not thinking of anything other than how he can help us right now and his commitment to get better.
He’s extremely mature and I’ve been extremely impressed by him. He’ll be given every opportunity.
Lamoriello said that Marner shouldn’t worry about his junior status, or the idea that he may go back after nine games like other top prospects. He’s here to stay, and he’s already impressed his head coach with things other than his offense.
I think he’s been really good. He’s good defensively, way better than I expected. He’s got to learn to work hard in practice. He’ll do that. I haven’t seen him get hit. Why is that? Why does he have the puck all the time? Why when (Marner) gets it, there’s always tons of room? When anyone else gets it, there’s no room. To me it looks like he’s driving the line.
Marner is set to start on a line with Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk, and is expected to see time on the Leafs powerplay.
- Also from McGran is the note that veteran Brooks Laich, acquired by the Leafs last year in the Daniel Winnik trade, has not been sent to the AHL despite clearing waivers. With the Leafs still having one cut to make before the deadline at 4:00pm tomorrow, Laich seems the odd man out. McGran does note though that a last-minute injury could open up a spot for him. When “Loophole-Lou” Lamoriello says “We do have a couple of lingering injuries” it often means, ‘we’ll find a way to keep everyone’. Don’t be surprised if Josh Leivo, who has been nursing a couple of injuries during camp, is who sits down for a couple of days to start the season.
- Kristin Shilton has some prospect news, as she reports that Adam Brooks, the Leafs’ fourth-round pick from this past draft is headed back to the Regina Pats for the upcoming season. Brooks was the WHL’s leading scorer last season, and actually could have headed to the AHL for this year since he’s already turned 20-years old. Instead, he’ll go back as an over-ager to try and win another scoring title as he continues his development.
Montreal Canadiens To Sign David Broll On AHL Deal
Tough-guy David Broll will be back in the American Hockey League this year, as according to James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail, the former Maple Leafs draft pick will sign a minor-league deal with the Montreal Canadiens to skate with the St. John’s IceCaps this season (their last, before moving to Laval in 2017-18).
Broll was originally selected by the Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 2011 Entry Draft, as a gritty winger who could hopefully develop into at least a penalty killing presence at a professional level. While he’s never developed much of a scoring touch, he did enough to earn a five game call-up in 2013-14 for the Maple Leafs, where he recorded one assist.
One of the suspected victims of the AHL’s new fighting restrictions, Broll will need to keep his gloves on his hands this year; he’s had double digit fighting majors in each of his three professional seasons. The league now will suspend players who record more than three fighting majors in a single season, a strong step towards ridding the league of fighting almost entirely. Broll will clearly need to contribute in other ways to stay relevant in hockey.
Week In Review: 10/3/16 – 10/9/16
It’s officially the last week of the offseason with the first games of the new regular season slated for Wednesday. Obviously roster pare downs dominated the headlines this week but there were a few other transactions of note as well as a handful of injuries that might prompt teams to see what’s available on the open market. Without further ado, here is the roundup of this week’s top hockey stories.
Key Free Agent Signings:
- Kris Russell – Edmonton (one year, $3.1MM): It’s probably not the lucrative deal Russell was looking for at the outset of free agency but the veteran shot-blocker finally did secure a contract for 2016-17. Perhaps with a solid performance for the Oil, Russell will be in better position to pursue a multi-year pact next summer.
- Tobias Rieder – Arizona (two years, $4.45MM): It looks like the Coyotes got the player at the price they wanted. It had been reported that Rieder was looking for $5MM over two years while the club was offering $4.4MM. Clearly the 23-year-old forward gave more than he got, presumably because he wanted to get back on the ice.
- Jakub Nakladal – Carolina (one year, $600K): It will be interesting to see how the 28-year-old Nakladal fits with the Hurricanes current crop of talented blue liners. Not including Nakladal, Carolina has seven NHL-caliber defensemen on the roster, only one of whom is older than 24.
Added on Waivers:
- Martin Frk – Carolina: Carolina wasn’t the only team that put a claim in on Frk but the Hurricanes were awarded the young Czech RW. He potted 27 goals for Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids in 2015-16 and it was mildly surprising to see the Wings risk losing him by placing him on waivers but clearly they felt the roster spot was best committed elsewhere.
Trades:
- Edmonton trades RW Nail Yakupov to St. Louis in exchange for Zach Pochiro and a conditional draft choice (a third in 2017 can become a second in 2018 if Yakupov scores 15 or more goals).
- Montreal deals Tim Bozon to Florida for D Jonathan Racine in an exchange of minor leaguers.
Injury Report:
- Jonathan Huberdeau is expected to miss 3 – 4 months with what is being called a lower-body-injury. It will be interesting to see if Panthers management looks outside the organization in an attempt to fill the void as Huberdeau was the team’s top scorer on the LW. The team does have around $10MM in cap space if they did choose to go that route.
- Nick Bjugstad will be out for four weeks due to a broken hand. The Panthers third-line pivot tallied 34 points in 67 games last season.
- Michael Del Zotto is set to miss the next 4 – 5 weeks with the dreaded lower-body-injury.
- Again with the lower-body-injury, the Flyers will also be without C Scott Laughton for three to our weeks.
- Devils defenseman Jon Merrill is out four weeks with a broken index finger.
- Penalty-killing specialist Matt Hendricks will miss significant time, once more due to a lower-body-injury. Oilers head coach Todd McLellan indicated it would be “weeks” before Hendricks would be able to return.
Retirements:
- Defenseman Barret Jackman called it quits after a solid, 14-year NHL career. Jackman was originally chosen in the first-round by St. Louis back in 1999 and played all but one season with the Blues before finishing up in Nashville. He wraps up his career with 186 points more than 1,100 penalty minutes in 876 regular season contests.
- Dan Boyle announced his retirement following 17 seasons in the NHL. Boyle, one of the league’s top offensive blue liners throughout much of his career, recorded at least 39 points eight out of nine seasons from 2002-03 through 2011-12. He would score more than 600 regular season points in nearly 1,100 NHL games. Boyle was a member of the 2003-04 Stanley Cup champion Tampa Lightning and also spent time with Florida and San Jose before wrapping up his career playing two seasons with the New York Rangers.
Friedman’s Latest: RFAs, Yakupov, Datsyuk
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman published his weekly 30 Thoughts column today and devoted a significant portion to the big name RFAs who remain unsigned. His first note was on Nikita Kucherov, whose agent – Scott Greenspun – Friedman believes has met with at least one club on the subject of an offer sheet. Due to Tampa’s precarious cap situation, both in the short and long term, the Lightning would be vulnerable to an offer sheet, particularly this close to the start of the regular season when all teams must be in cap compliance. The Lightning have roughly $5.5MM in available cap space but Kucherov may well be able to land significantly more than that from another club. GMs tend to steer clear of offer sheets for fear of angering their colleagues but Kucherov’s talent and track record might eventually prove too tempting for one manager to resist.
The full column is always worth the read but here are a few more key points from Friedman:
- With regards to Johnny Gaudreau, Friedman believes there has been progress made since the two sides met earlier this week. He also notes that negotiations could again reach a stalemate if and when the two sides have moved far enough. The key, Friedman says, is how many unrestricted free agent years the Flames will be buying out, suggesting the longer the term, the higher the AAV. Gaudreau has five years remaining before reaching free agency meaning a max, eight-year term would buy out three free agent seasons.
- There may be as many as six teams with serious interest in trading for Winnipeg Jets RFA defenseman Jacob Trouba. The scribe lists Buffalo, N.Y. Rangers, Detroit, Colorado, Boston and Arizona as the clubs looking at making a deal for the talented young blue liner. Of course given Winnipeg’s believed asking price – a left defenseman of similar ability and age – it’s difficult to fathom any of the aforementioned clubs being a match. Evidently that thought has also occurred to the Jets and that has prompted interested suitors to try to engage a third team to help meet Winnipeg’s demands. One obvious team that could facilitate a trade would be Anaheim as Friedman notes. The Ducks still have Hampus Lindholm to come to terms with and recently sent both Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore – two of the team’s top blue line prospects – to San Diego in the AHL. They certainly have the depth to meet Winnipeg’s needs.
- Apparently the Jets also asked Trouba’s camp to provide the numbers it would take to convince the 22-year-old to re-up in Winnipeg but they were told as long as the situation on the right side of the team’s defense remained the same that re-signing “wasn’t going to happen.”
- Friedman wonders whether the St. Louis Blues will employ the newly acquired Nail Yakupov as a power play specialist and if so, would they play him with two right-shooting forwards. He notes that Yakupov’s man-advantage shooting percentage with Edmonton was 14.8% when on the ice with at least two right-handed forwards and just 7.1% otherwise. The problem with the theory is that the Blues list just three forwards who fire the puck from the starboard side and of those, just David Perron is likely to see much power play time. St. Louis does have four right-handed blue liners so the coaching staff could get creative if they have in fact given any thought to Friedman’s suggestion.
- When the Arizona Coyotes agreed to take on the final year of Pavel Datsyuk‘s contract from Detroit, it was thought their primary motivation was moving up in the 2016 draft four slots to secure the rights to talented young blue liner Jakob Chychrun. Secondarily, Datsyuk’s $7.5MM cap charge would help the team exceed the cap floor. However, Friedman reports that first-year GM John Chayka had something else entirely in mind. With Datsyuk already committed to signing in the KHL, Chayka tried to convince St. Petersburg to allow the Coyotes to speak with two of their players, Yevgeni Dadonov (perhaps misidentified in Friedman’s post as Evgeny Davydov) and Vadim Shipachyov, in exchange for releasing Datsyuk’s rights. Obviously it didn’t work out for Chayka but it shows his willingness to look at outside-the-box for ways to upgrade his roster.
Atlantic Division Notes: Richards, Foligno, Carlo, Heinen
Many pundits consider the Tampa Bay Lightning roster to be among the deepest and most talented in the league. The team boasts a franchise player in Steven Stamkos along with plenty of skilled skaters – Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Jonathan Drouin to name a few – joining him up front. They have Victor Hedman to anchor the blue line with Anton Stralman to provide support. In goal Tampa Bay has two netminders capable of carrying a team through a lengthy playoff run.
If the Lightning have one weakness that could derail their Stanley Cup plans it could be an ineffective power play. Tampa Bay ranked 28th in the NHL in power play efficiency, converting just 15.8% of their opportunities. While the team elected to essentially avoid signing outside free agents in order to save their limited cap space for their own, one addition could go a long way toward fixing their power play, as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes.
Smith notes that since joining the team as head coach, Jon Cooper oversaw the man-advantage unit but he has ceded those duties to newly hired assistant coach Todd Richards. Richards of course was head coach in Columbus before losing his job on the heels of an 0 – 7 start to the 2015-16 season. Cooper expects Richards to provide a “fresh look and fresh face” to the power play.
In Richards’ last full season at the helm in Columbus, the Blue Jackets tied for fifth in power play efficiency with a 21.7% success rate. While Smith reports Richards won’t be making too many changes with regard to system or personnel, the players have noted some subtle changes including an emphasis on shooting the puck.
A more potent power play could go a long way to helping the Lightning over the hump and Richards’ solid showing in that area while with the Jackets offers hope he can help in Tampa.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- It’s taken the better part of five seasons but it finally appears as if winger Marcus Foligno has found his niche with the Buffalo Sabres, writes John Vogl of The Buffalo News. After a rough start to the 2015-16 campaign, Foligno finished the year strong scoring eight goals and 16 points in his final 40 contests. He credited a mid-season conversation with the Buffalo coaching staff as helping him find consistency with his game: “I voiced my frustration a little bit. I remember talking to the coaches about ‘What can I do?’ and things like that. It was good. It was positive criticism, and then from there I never looked back. You’ve got to look at the man in the mirror sometimes, and that’s what I did.” Foligno, now 25, is expected to fill a spot in the Sabres top-nine and to provide leadership, grit and toughness. For his part, head coach Dan Bylsma noted the change in Foligno: “In the past, there was some fluctuation in his game, there was some inconsistencies from game to game and week to week. Marcus’ game can’t change and fluctuate. He has to be a hard guy to play against. He has to be a big, physical presence. He’s got to be a guy who plays on the inside. Marcus grew into that, and in the last 45 games delivered that on a consistent basis.”
- A few Boston prospects are making a case to stick with the big club to start the campaign, as Joe Haggerty of CSNNE writes. As Haggerty reports, Bruins head coach Claude Julien and his staff are looking at a roster scenario that would include rookies Brandon Carlo, Danton Heinen and Austin Czarnik making the club. With an aging and thin blue line, the fact Carlo, a 19-year-old, right-shot defender is closing in on a roster spot should be of little surprise. But for Heinen, a 2014 fourth-round pick, to be on the verge of securing a regular job in the team’s bottom six is somewhat surprising. Czarnik’s chances likely hinge on whether or not the Bruins use David Backes on the RW on one of the top two lines or as the team’s third-line pivot. Though a strong performance for Providence in the AHL that saw Czarnik tally 61 points in 68 contests, suggests the Miami of Ohio graduate is close to, if not fully ready for NHL action.