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League Notes: Waiver Priority, Power Play, AHL Trades

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November 1st marks an important day on the NHL calendar, but one many may not be aware of. Fortunately, CapFriendly is here for the reminder. This day marks the official change over to the waiver priority by current NHL standings. In the first month of the season, as the sample size is too small to truly judge the weak from the strong in many cases, the league uses the reverse order of the prior year’s regular season standings as the waiver priority for all of October. Up until now, the Ottawa Senators have had the first chance at available players on waivers, followed by the Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, and all the way to the Tampa Bay Lighting. But as of today, the top priority goes to… well, the Kings, who move up just one spot. The Senators slide back to third, with the Minnesota Wild occupying the second position. As of right now, it is the Boston Bruins who have the very last opportunity to claim a player on waivers. Waiver priority will now change constantly based on the reverse order of the league standings by points percentage.

However, at the current rate, waiver priority won’t matter too much this season. The Winnipeg Jets, who have occupied the 22nd waiver priority spot until today, have claimed defensemen Carl Dahlstrom and Luca Sbisa, and the Arizona Coyotes, who previously held spot No. 14, claimed goaltender Eric Comrie. Those have been the only claims thus far in 2019-20, an unusually low count even this early in the season.

  • The mark of success so far this season? Power play efficiency. As John Dietz of the Chicago Daily Herald points out, there is no stronger correlation between wins and losses this year than how a team performs man-up. The top six teams in power play percentage are all also among the top nine in points percentage. This includes the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres at No. 1 and 2 in both statistics. Down at the bottom, five of the six worst power play teams are among the bottom the eight teams in points percentage. The only outlier appears to be the Anaheim Ducks, who have managed to overcome a 29th-ranked power play thus far to get off to an 8-6-0 start. As the skill level in the NHL improves each year and the game becomes more about using space to create offense, it only makes sense that man-up efficiency will matter more and more, with the start to this season as the perfect example.
  • A strange occurrence early on this season has also been not one, but two AHL trades. AHL trades are extremely rare, as the NHL teams that manage their farm team rosters often lack any incentive to make such a deal. In general, the only motivation to make a deal that solely impacts an AHL squad is to improve depth at a certain position, either to avoid the overexposure of prospects or, later in the year, to give the team a push toward securing a playoff spot. However, even then AHL GM’s tend to eye other players on two-way NHL contracts to swap rather than players on minor league pacts. Not so far this year, though. On Tuesday, the Grand Rapids Griffins acquired forward Marcus Vela from San Jose Barracuda for defenseman Marcus Crawford in a move that wasn’t even about addressing depth, as Vela was immediately reassigned to the ECHL. Just two days later, the San Diego Gulls acquired veteran defenseman Ryan Johnston, a player who had been a healthy scratch for every game so far this season, from the Toronto Marlies for future considerations. Perhaps this is a new trend in organizational roster management or perhaps it is simply a coincidence, but either way it is an intriguing attachment to this young season.

Ducks’ Josh Manson Out 5-10 Weeks With Sprained Knee

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Not much was made of the Anaheim Ducks placing defenseman Josh Manson on injured reserve late last week. At first it seemed like the shutdown defender may only miss a pair of games and the team somewhat nonchalantly added that there would be a later update. It turns out that the recent trade for Erik Gudbranson may have been about more than just adding depth. The team has issued a statement today on their injured players which states that Manson has suffered a left knee sprain and is expected to miss the next five to ten weeks.

Yet, Elliott Teaford of The OC Register adds that GM Bob Murray seemed somewhat relieved about the diagnosis. Murray and others with the Ducks worried that Manson’s condition was much worse. The injury certainly did not look good. Facing the Dallas Stars last Thursday, Manson fell awkwardly while checking Stars forward Jason Dickinson. He had to be helped off the ice and seemed unable to put any weight on his left leg. The concern with that kind of incident is always a tendon injury, either the ACL or Achilles, which takes months to recover from.

Nevertheless, the possibility of a ten-week hiatus for Manson remains daunting for the Ducks. The Anaheim blue line has been stripped of considerable talent over the last few years and no longer has the talent level nor the depth that once the hallmark of the team. Manson has emerged as one of the most important members of the club, posting a career high 22:18 average time on ice last year while leading the team in hits. The year before he even garnered Norris Trophy votes with a 37-point and plus-34 season. He was back at it to begin the 2019-20 campaign, leading the Ducks in hits per game and pacing himself for a career-high in blocked shots prior to his injury. He helped Anaheim get off to a solid start to the year, but the question is how they will fare, especially defensively, while he remains on the shelf. A five-week return could potentially have Manson back by the end of next month, but the ten-week maximum means he has played his last hockey of the 2019 calendar year. Gudbranson will be asked to do much of what the Ducks have leaned on Manson for in his stead, but the likes of Brendan Guhle, Korbinian Holzer, and Josh Mahura may also have to step up.

Minor Transactions: 10/27/19

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The Heritage Classic was a snowy affair that ended in an overtime win for the Jets over the Flames, while the Stanley Cup re-match was an unexpectedly lopsided shutout for the Bruins over the Blues. Both Boston and St. Louis are back in action for an unusually busy Sunday this early in the NHL season. The six-game slate begins at 2:00pm local time in Edmonton, as the Oilers host the visiting Panthers, and ends later tonight with the Ducks facing the Golden Knights in a battle of 7-5 Pacific Division rivals. As a dozen teams stay occupied with action throughout the day, follow along with the moves made in anticipation of and response to those contests, as well as other clubs preparing for the week ahead:

  • After demoting him just yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres have announced that defenseman Will Borgen has been promoted. This was likely a matter of ice time for Borgen, given how quickly the 22-year-old rearguard was reassigned and then recalled after last night’s games. Borgen has yet to play in the NHL this season and was passed over again Friday night, as John Gilmour made his season debut on the Buffalo blue line. Instead, Borgen returned to Rochester and suited up for the Americans. Borgen has also been held without a point in eight AHL games, so the Sabres need to find a way to jump-start the St. Cloud State product’s season.
  • A familiar name is back in action, as the AHL’s Belleville Senators have signed defenseman Frank Corrado to a professional tryout offer. Corrado, 26, has played in 76 NHL games over his six-year pro career with the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Pittsburgh Penguins. However, he has not played in a game at the top level since 2017-18, spending all of last season with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Unsuccessful in landing a two-way contract in the off-season, Corrado now seems determined to simply prove that he still has value in North America on a PTO with Belleville. Frequently the “next man up” in his pro career, Corrado failed to ever fully take advantage of his NHL opportunities, but remains and experienced and capable depth option. He could prove himself to the Senators organization and land a contract before too long.
  • After beginning the season on the injured reserve, Anaheim Ducks prospect keeper Angus Redmond is finally healthy and has been loaned to the ECHL’s Allen Americans. This is a big year for Redmond, who is in the final season of his entry-level contract. The 24-year-old gave up on his NCAA career after just one stellar season at Michigan Tech by signing with the Ducks, but has largely failed to impress in the two years since. It has not been any help that Anaheim does not have an ECHL affiliate, meaning Redmond has bounced around the ECHL in his pro career, with Allen being his sixth different team. Redmond would like some consistency, which could come with a promotion to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, and is in luck as Anthony Stolarz and Kevin Boyle are both off to a rocky start. However, he’ll first have to prove he is healthy and at the top of his game at the “AA” level. If Redmond cannot earn some AHL starts this year, and perform well in those appearances, this could very well be his final season on an NHL contract.
  • The Minnesota Wild announced they have returned goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen to the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Kahkonen was recalled on an emergency basis on Wednesday, but never made an appearance in the game and any hope for his NHL debut will have to wait. Kahkonen has struggled in four game with the Iowa Wild despite posting four wins. He also has a .886 save percentage in those games as well.
  • The Ottawa Senators announced they have recalled Filip Chlapik from the Belleville Senators of the AHL. The 22-year-old has already appeared in one game for Ottawa this season as he has one assist in that game. The former second-round pick in 2015, Chlapik has shown potential, but hasn’t been able to do that in the NHL. He scored 16 goals and 18 assists last year in 57 games with Belleville and has one goal in six games this season so far.
  • One day after being recalled by the Nashville Predators, the team announced they have assigned forward Anthony Richard to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. Richard did get a chance to play in his first NHL game of the season Saturday, but only played 4:10, although he got two shots off in that time. Richard has played seven games in Milwaukee and has a goal and an assist.
  • The Vancouver Canucks announced they have recalled center Adam Gaudette from the Utica Comets of the AHL. Gaudette surprised several when he made the team out of training camp after an impressive preseason. However, he rarely played, appearing in just three games and tallying one assist. He was assigned to Utica Thursday, but scored a goal Saturday night for the Comets. Gaudette played 56 games for Vancouver last season.

Pacific Notes: Dillon, Schmidt, Subban, Gudbranson

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Many in Toronto, after watching a San Jose Sharks’ hit against Auston Matthews Friday night, felt that the Sharks’ Brenden Dillon deserved to have the hit looked at by the Department of Player Safety. However, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that Dillon won’t face any supplemental discipline for the hit as the belief is that the head was not the main point of contact.

Dillon hit Matthews at 11:30 in the second period of Friday’s game just as Matthews was entering the Sharks’ offensive zone as Dillon’s hands appeared to go high on the Maple Leafs’ forward. There was no penalty on the play. Matthews left the game and underwent concussion protocol. However, he did return in the third period.

  • After a embarrassing performance against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, the Vegas Golden Knights got a hint at the potential return of one of their top players as Vegas’ head coach Gerard Gallant said that defenseman Nate Schmidt could be close to a return. “I’d love to have him in my lineup, trust me, and he’s going to be there soon,” said Gallant, via Ken Boehlke of Sinbin.vegas. Schmidt suffered a lower-body injury on the first game of the season and has been out ever since. However, he has resumed skating. Considered to be the team’s top defenseman, the team is eager to get him back into their lineup.
  • David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes that the Vegas Golden Knights could be getting back goaltender Malcolm Subban soon. The backup goaltender suffered a lower-body injury and has missed eight straight games. However, the scribe reports that his equipment was seen in front of his locker, which would suggest he’s ready to skate and could return to the lineup soon. Garrett Sparks is currently the backup for Vegas.
  • After attempting to add both Kevin Shattenkirk and Justin Faulk earlier this year, the Anaheim Ducks finally were able to trade for a veteran defenseman Friday when they acquired blueliner Erik Gudbranson. In fact, the Ducks had been interested in acquiring him for quite a while, according to Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required). “This is something we have been looking at for some time. We haven’t been tough enough to play against and hopefully Erik can help us address part of that need,” general manager Bob Murray said.

Injury Notes: Tarasenko, Kase, Archibald

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The St. Louis Blues will be without sniper Vladimir Tarasenko for at least their next two games, as he isn’t traveling with the team on their latest road trip. Tarasenko suffered an upper-body injury last night and will be re-evaluated on Monday.

Here’s some more injury news from around the league:

  • The Anaheim Ducks acquired Erik Gudbranson today from the Pittsburgh Penguins, perhaps in part due to the fact that Josh Manson has been placed on injured reserve. He’ll be joined there by Ondrej Kase, with both players out for at least the next two games. The Ducks say a further update will be given next week, but those are two very important players to lose for a pair of weekend tilts against the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights.
  • The New Jersey Devils have activated Will Butcher from injured reserve, though he is still not expected to play tonight when they take on the Arizona Coyotes. In his place, Connor Carrick has been moved to IR with an upper-body injury suffered yesterday in practice.
  • Josh Archibald hasn’t scored a point yet for the Edmonton Oilers, and won’t get one anytime soon. That’s because he’s been placed on injured reserve with a right foot fracture and will miss two to four weeks.

Anaheim Ducks Acquire Erik Gudbranson

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The Anaheim Ducks have acquired Erik Gudbranson from the Pittsburgh Penguins, sending back Andreas Martinsen and a 2021 seventh-round pick in exchange. That return shows just how little value Gudbranson represented at this point, after struggling early in the season but still carrying a cap hit of $4MM through the 2020-21 season. The Penguins, in cap trouble with players returning from injury, needed to move out at least one defenseman.

It is incredible just how far Gudbranson’s value has fallen in a few short years. In 2010 he was selected third overall by the Florida Panthers—just ahead of Ryan Johansen, Nino Niederreiter, Brett Connolly and Jeff Skinner—as a potential franchise-changing shutdown defenseman. The 6’5″ behemoth could basically do anything he wanted in his own end at the junior level, pushing smaller competition off the puck with ease.

Unfortunately in the NHL, that defensive ability was tested right away. With no offensive game to speak of to help him move the puck quickly out of his own end, Gudbranson put up poor possession numbers right from the start of his career with the Panthers, and never did become that minute-munching defensive stalwart. Through his first five seasons—309 games—he averaged fewer than 18 minutes a night and racked up just 43 points.

Then came trades to Vancouver and finally Pittsburgh, where he actually showed well in short spurts. Paired with Marcus Pettersson for a time last season, Gudbranson played perhaps the best hockey of his career for the Penguins.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t good enough to save him from this new fate.

Pittsburgh not only had too many bodies on defense, but they have also been pushed right up against the cap all season. Moving Gudbranson’s entire $4MM cap hit was obviously worth it, and the fact that they didn’t need to include any “kicker” is even better. Martinsen represents a minor league addition and will likely not play many games for Pittsburgh, though he will give the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins another experienced body.

In Anaheim, the team will hope they can bring out the good parts of Gudbranson’s game and make him into the player he was once projected to be. The team has been looking for right-handed defense help for some time, and will at least get plenty of experience in the 27-year old.

Winnipeg Jets Claim Luca Sbisa

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In a surprising turn of events, the Winnipeg Jets have claimed Luca Sbisa off waivers. Sbisa was only just signing with the Anaheim Ducks after previously being without a team, but the Jets will take him instead on the same one-year, one-way $750K contract. If the Jets want to send Sbisa to the minor leagues as the Ducks had planned, they will have to try to send him through waivers again.

Sbisa, 29, will land in Winnipeg as inexpensive veteran depth for a team that has seen their defense corps ravaged over the last few months. Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot are all gone (for now at least), while Nathan Beaulieu has been dealing with injury.

The team has been using 2019 draft pick Ville Heinola as a full-time option, but the claim of Sbisa does beg the question of what happens next for the young defenseman. Heinola played just over 13 minutes against the Los Angeles Kings, and is approaching the 10-game threshold for his entry-level contract. With eight games under his belt, Heinola can play just one more before his deal would kick in and burn the first year.

Betting that Sbisa can take over that role however comes with plenty of risk. The smooth-skating defenseman has played just 39 regular season games since the start of the 2017-18 season, including just nine last year with the New York Islanders. He couldn’t find a deal this summer and had been skating with New York on a professional tryout, but that’s far from being ready for NHL game action.

With Byfuglien’s future still up in the air however, the Jets don’t have much flexibility to acquire another more expensive defender. Sbisa’s new contract comes just barely over the minimum, and can be completely buried in the minor leagues if necessary.

Jonathan Ericsson, Luca Sbisa Placed On Waivers

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Wednesday: Ericsson has cleared waivers and will be assigned to the AHL, while Sbisa was claimed by the Winnipeg Jets. The Red Wings recalled Alex Biega to take Ericsson’s place on the roster.

Tuesday: According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Detroit Red Wings have placed Jonathan Ericsson on waivers. That must mean he’s healthy enough to return, given he has been on injured reserve all season. Luca Sbisa has also been placed on waivers, and Friedman reports that he’ll be signing with the Anaheim Ducks after skating with the New York Islanders on a professional tryout.

Ericsson, 35, has been a staple in the Red Wings lineup for more than a decade, making his debut in 2008 and playing 662 regular season games for the team. Unfortunately, his play has declined with age and his minutes reduced accordingly. The Red Wings have now seemingly moved on from their previous core, with Ericsson likely being the latest victim of their turn to the younger generation of talent.

Still, the veteran defenseman has one year left on his contract that carries a $4.25MM cap hit. That will almost certainly mean he clears waivers, at which point he could be buried in the minor leagues if the Red Wings decide to do so. If they do send him to the AHL, $1.075MM of his contract would be removed from the Red Wings cap total.

Sbisa meanwhile is just trying to hold on to an NHL career that was so promising a few years ago. The 29-year old defenseman has played in just 39 regular season games since the start of the 2017-18 season, including just nine last year with the Islanders. A first round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2008, his skating ability made him a strong option early in his career. Perhaps the Ducks can reclaim some greatness out of the veteran, as they were the team that Sbisa recorded his career-high 24 points for in 2011-12.

Nick Ritchie Fined For Roughing

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  • The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has issued a $4,121.86 fine to Nick Ritchie of the Anaheim Ducks for the roughing incident last night. Ritchie attacked Vladimir Sobotka after a whistle and ended up dragging him to the ground (where Buffalo goaltender Linus Ullmark proceeded to give Ritchie a few punches). This was the maximum allowable fine under the CBA for the incident.

Andy Welinski Placed On Waivers By Philadelphia

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Tuesday: Welinski has cleared waivers and will head to the Phantoms.

Monday: The Philadelphia Flyers likely planned to have free agent addition Andy Welinski hit the waiver wire just before the start of the regular season, when waivers is saturated with talent and teams are not as likely to make an addition to their roster. However, Welinski suffered a lower-body injury in training camp and began the year on the Flyers’ injured reserve. Finally healthy, the team is forced to place Welinski on waivers now, as reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, in order to send him to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. With NHL teams having two weeks of games to look at as well as injury losses in need of a response, it’s fair to wonder if Welinksi will clear waivers.

Welinksi, 26, hit the open market this summer as a Group 6 unrestricted free agent. A standout for his hometown University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, Welinksi enjoyed a full four-year collegiate career before signing with the Anaheim Ducks, who had selected him in the third round in 2011. In his first two pro seasons, Welinski only played in seven games for the Ducks, instead producing at a high level as a top defenseman for the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. However, in 2018-19, Welinski became a valuable depth piece on the Anaheim blue line. His split his season between the parent club and farm team, skating in 26 games for the Ducks and recording four points. However, even with his emergence as an NHL option for Anaheim, he was still far short of the 80 games needed by age 25 to remain a restricted free agents. Welinksi opted to take his talents to Philadelphia, where a young defense corps undergoing an overhaul offered the potential for another NHL opportunity.

The question now is whether Welinski’s next appearance at the top level will be with Philadelphia or elsewhere. Although the Phantoms feature other NHL veterans, such as Nate Prosser and T.J. Brennan, Welinski would likely be the next man up in the event of an injury in Philly. However, other teams may be willing to offer him a depth role right away. Given the injuries to Niklas Hjalmarsson in Arizona and Adam Larsson in Edmonton, not to mention the depth concerns in Winnipeg and New Jersey, that is already four teams that could consider taking a flier on Welinski. He may not be a household name or even an established NHLer at this point in career, but for now he’s a free option with demand for defense on the rise.

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