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Minor Transactions: 2/8/2017

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Tracking the minor transactions from around the NHL for February 8, 2017.

  • The Boston Bruins, fresh off firing their head coach, have once again swapped goaltenders with their AHL squad. Anton Khudobin has been recalled and Zane McIntyre demoted to Providence. Khudobin is in the first year of a two-year contract worth $1.2MM annually. His second stint in Boston has not gone well; he’s 1-5-1 with an 0.885 and a 3.06 GAA. While he has a 7-3-1 record in the AHL, that comes with a poor 0.896 SV% and 2.69 GAA. McIntyre is 0-3-1 in seven NHL games with a 0.860 SV5 and a 3.95 GAA, but has a sterling record in the AHL, going 11-0-0 with a 0.950 SV % and 1.44 GAA. Unfortunately for the Bruins, backups Khudobin, McIntyre, and Malcolm Subban have combined for one win in 11 starts.
  • The Bruins Atlantic Division rivals in Montreal have also made a few roster moves, calling up Michael McCarron and Daniel Carr while sending Jacob de la Rose to the AHL. McCarron has four points in 15 NHL games and 19 points in 30 AHL games; Carr has eight points in 31 NHL games and the same total in just six AHL games. de la Rose has no points in nine NHL games, but has 15 in 34 games in the AHL.
  • The NHL-leading Washington Capitals have recalled Zachary Sanford from the AHL. Sanford has one point in 20 NHL games and 14 points in 24 AHL games.
  • Over in Minnesota, the Wild swapped defensemen with their AHL club. Mike Reilly will be heading to Iowa while Gustav Olofsson is coming back to Minnesota. Reilly has one point in 17 NHL games while Olofsson has only appeared in one NHL game this season.

Martin Havlat Retires After 14 Seasons

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Former NHL-All Star Martin Havlat announced his retirement after 14 seasons.

Havlat made the announcement via the NHLPA’s website. He last appeared in the NHL in 2015-16, playing two games with the St. Louis Blues, scoring his last NHL goal.

Havlat was a first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators back in 1999. He scored 594 points in 790 games, but never played a full 82-game schedule. During his career, he had shoulder surgery, a serious pelvic injury, and many groin injuries. Despite his injuries, Havlat was known for his clutch scoring, with 44 regular season GWGs and seven more in the playoffs. Three of those were in overtime.

He spent his first five seasons in the Canadian capital before being traded to Chicago, missing the Senators’ Stanley Cup Finals appearance by one year. He played with the Blackhawks for three seasons, but wasn’t re-signed for their 2009-10 Stanley Cup. He signed with Minnesota, and had his last good season in his second year there. After scoring 62 points in 2010-11, the Wild traded him to San Jose for Dany Heatley. After the trade, Havlat never played more than 48 games in a season, or scored more than 27 points in a season. After stints with New Jersey and St. Louis and Kometa Brno, Havlat decided to stop playing because of a “sharp pain” in his groin from “overuse and too many tears.”

While injuries shortened his career, Havlat says he’s “not angry now, just happy I did everything I could.” He currently lives in Florida, raising his two young daughters. He says he hopes neither play hockey until they’re older, so he can avoid spending time in “a cold rink” for a little while longer.

Deadline Primer: Chicago Blackhawks

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With the trade deadline now just weeks away, we’re going to start taking a closer look at each team.  Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?

The most recent dynasty in the NHL is looking win its fourth Stanley Cup in eight seasons. The Chicago Blackhawks have a highly skilled and expensive core surrounded by young players, and will be looking for inexpensive additions for a playoff run. They won’t be able to take on any players with a significant salary unless an equal contract is headed the other way.

Record

32-17-5, 2nd in the Central Division

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

Current cap space: $1.123MM
Deadline cap space: $1.769MM
43/50 contracts, via CapFriendly

Draft Picks

2017: CHI 1st, CHI 2nd, CHI 3rd, CHI 4th, CHI 5th, STL 5th, CAR 5th, CHI 6th, NYI 6th, CHI 7th
2018: CHI 1st, CHI 3rd, CHI 4th, CHI 5th, CHI 6th, CHI 7th

Trade Chips

The Blackhawks have not made a first-round pick since 2014, having traded the previous two picks in deadline deals for Antoine Vermette and Andrew Ladd, so there isn’t an obvious top prospect outside the NHL that they could move. They did snag Alex DeBrincat in the second round last year, but he has 44 goals and 92 points in just 45 games. They won’t be likely to move him unless it’s for a cost-controlled young forward, but teams aren’t looking to move those types of players.

They do have 10 picks in the upcoming draft, but don’t expect them to move high picks for rentals. The 2017 NHL Draft will be held in Chicago, and GM Stan Bowman is on record as saying he’s “probably going to try to hang on to those [high] picks.”

Players To Watch

C Marcus Kruger, D Trevor Van Riemsdyk, C Mark McNeill, D Ville Pokka

Team Needs

1) Top Line Left Winger – Of all the players that the Blackhawks have been forced to move for salary cap concerns, trading Brandon Saad to Columbus in June 2015 has likely been the toughest loss. Saad was coming off a 52-point season playing on the top line with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa. Since then, Chicago has relied on the line of Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, and Artem Anisimov to run the offence. Toews is still an elite center in the NHL, but needs a younger offensive player to play alongside him. Bowman has been unable to find a replacement for Saad, and if he’s able to find someone to play alongside Toews then the Blackhawks would immediately become a favourite. Unfortunately, the team’s cap situation means this sort of acquisition is unlikely unless a significant salary is heading the other way. As an interim measure, players like Thomas Vanek or former Blackhawk Patrick Sharp could be decent acquisitions.

2) Bottom-Six Help — The Blackhawks bottom-six was absolutely dominant in their recent Cup victories, with players like Bryan Bickell, Dave Bolland, Michael Frolik, Ladd, Andrew Shaw, Sharp, Teuvo Teravainen, and Vermette all making big contributions to the championships. While Marcus Kruger and Andrew Desjardins are reliable options, the Blackhawks have mostly rookies in the bottom-half of their roster. Chicago Sun-Times writer Mark Lazerus writes that the improving the Blackhawks bottom-six could be the key to another deep playoff run; those deep Cup-winning rosters were much deeper than the 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2016 editions. Last year’s acquisition, Dale Weise, did not work out as the Blackhawks lost in round one to the Blues. Players like Radim Vrbata or Patrick Eaves could be solid targets to add bottom-six scoring and veteran presence.

Snapshots: NHL Three Stars, Gostisbehere, Johnson

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The NHL has named its Three Stars of the Week: Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, and Peter Budaj.

Aho had four goals and an assist in three games, including two game-winning goals. In the Hurricanes’ first game of the week, Aho had a hat-trick and assist, before scoring the winning goal on Friday against the Oilers and being held pointless on Saturday. In 51 games, the 2015 second-round pick has 16 goals and 31 points, good for sixth among rookies.

Granlund had three goals and six points in three games as the Wild went 2-1-0. After two assists in the first two games of the week, he too had a hat-trick plus assist in the third game of the week. Granlund currently leads the Wild in scoring with 48 points in 51 games.

Budaj won three of four games with a 0.930 SV%, 1.62 GAA, and two shutouts. After starting the season as the Kings’ third-string goaltender, he now leads the NHL in shutouts with seven and has a sparkling 0.920 SV% with 25 wins in 46 appearances. With Jonathan Quick out from opening night until March, Budaj has allowed the Kings to remain in a wildcard spot.

  • The offensively-starved Flyers will be without last year’s rookie standout Shayne Gostisbehere yet again when the Blues come to Philadelphia tonight, but it’s not an injury or illness that’s keeping him out. Gostisbehere will be a healthy scratch for the third-straight game. After scoring 17 goals and 46 points in 64 games last year, he has just four goals and 21 points in 48 games this season. That’s a pace of 7-29-36 over 82 games, much lower than his 59-point-pace in 2015-16. While Gostisbehere will remain out of the lineup, rookie forward Travis Konecny will draw back in for Matt Read. When asked about the lineup, coach Dave Hakstol told NBC’s Jason Brough that he’s “trying to dress the best roster possible to win hockey games. Point blank.” Without Gostisbehere, the Flyers are 1-1, winning 3-1 and losing 1-0.
  • In an appearance on TSN Radio in Edmonton, Bob McKenzie put forward the idea that Tampa Bay could look to move pending RFA center Tyler Johnson for defensive help. Despite Johnson’s lessened production this year (33 points in 53 games), McKenzie suggests a combination of “needing a defenseman and maybe having a surplus of forwards, and… the cap issues and maybe not being in a position to sign [Johnson] might make him more expendable over some of the other pieces.” Besides making a decision on potential rentals like Ben Bishop and Brian Boyle and RFA forwards Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat, and Johnson, McKenzie believes GM Steve Yzerman will be looking for a cost-controlled defenseman to make his team better going forward. Regardless of who he choses to keep, it’s going to be a stressful next few months for Yzerman.

Minor Transactions: 2/6/2017

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Derek Grant is headed back to Buffalo. The Nashville Predators had claimed Grant from the Sabres earlier this season, but after addressing their need for grit by trading for Cody McLeod and more recently Vernon Fiddler, Grant became expendable. The Predators placed Grant on waivers yesterday and the Buffalo News now reports that his former team has picked him up. If the Sabres were the only team to put a claim in on Grant, they now have the flexibility to reassign him to the AHL over the next 30 days if they so choose, as the team that previously placed him on waivers. Grant has four assists this season, three in 35 games with Buffalo and one in six appearances with Nashville. The 26-year-old grinder is far from an NHL-caliber offensive contributor, but is a capable of being a reliable energy line player and isn’t afraid to drop the gloves.

In other news around the league:

  •  A day after sending Karl Stollery to the AHL’s Albany Devils, New Jersey has recalled the defenseman. John Moore has begun skating with the team, but is not ready to return to action. Stollery provides a good option for blue line depth in the meantime. He has three assists in nine games for the Devils this season, while logging over 16 minutes of ice time per game.
  • The Nashville Predators have swapped goaltenders with their AHL affiliate, sending Juuse Saros to Milwaukee and recalling Marek Mazanec. Saros is 5-3-2 with the Predators, and has an excellent 0.941 SV% and 1.79 GAA. In the AHL, he’s 12-2 with a 0.932 SV% and 1.92 GAA. Meanwhile Mazanec has struggled this season, with two losses in four appearances with the Predators. He has a rough 0.839 SV% and a 4.72 GAA. He’s been a little better with the AHL’s Admirals, going 12-10 with a 0.910 SV% and a 2.61 GAA.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have demoted forward Brendan Gaunce to Utica of the AHL. The former first round pick has five assists in 47 games with the Canucks. He had just one goal in 20 games last season, but has been much better with the Comets, scoring 17 goals and 38 points in 46 games last season. The Canucks will need Gaunce to pick up his offensive game if he’s going to be an impact player like he was in the OHL where he scored 236 points in 258 games.
  • Forwards Timo Meier and Marcus Sorensen have been recalled to the San Jose Sharks. Meier has four points in 21 games with the Sharks and 15 points in 18 games with the Barracuda, while Sorensen has 27 points in 39 games at the AHL.
  • In a corresponding move, the Sharks have also assigned Tim Heed and Kevin Labanc to the AHL, as per Kevin Kurz of CSN.

Pro Hockey Rumors’ Zach Leach contributed to this post.

Ribeiro, Marchenko On Waivers; Three Players Clear

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The Nashville Predators have placed center Mike Ribeiro on waivers, according to Adam Vingan of The Tennessean.

We reported earlier this morning that Ribeiro may have asked for a trade out of Nashville. He was a healthy scratch for the Predators past three games and five of their past 11. Ribeiro has four goals and 25 points in 46 games so far this season. This is his third year in Nashville, but the first year he’s struggled to produce. Ribeiro had 62 and 50 points in his first two seasons in Nashville. The first sign of trouble was likely in the playoffs last season, when he was a healthy scratch twice while posting just two assists in 12 games. Vingan writes that Ribeiro is the most sheltered player in the NHL this season, starting more than half his shifts in the offensive zone. When Vingan asked coach Peter Laviolette about Ribeiro, all he said was “he’s a member of our team.” That’s not exactly a vote of confidence.

In addition, the Detroit Red Wings have placed Alexey Marchenko on waivers, per Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. Marchenko has six assists in 30 games with the Red Wings this season. He also represented Russia at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The right-handed Marchenko is on waivers to make room for defenseman Brendan Smith, who will be activated off IR tomorrow, according to Ansar Khan of MLive.com.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Devils tough guy Luke Gazdic, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Eric Gelinas, and the Buffalo Sabres center Cal O’Reilly all cleared waivers.

Gazdic signed with the Devils as a free agent back in July. He had spent the previous few seasons in Edmonton, and actually lived with superstar Taylor Hall, who was traded to New Jersey just days before Gazdic signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $700K. He has no points and 12 PIM in 10 games with the Devils so far. He has two assists in 13 AHL games this season. He’s already cleared waivers once this season.

Gelinas, a former Devil, was traded to Colorado for a third round pick at last year’s trade deadline. He has a single assist in 26 games. His $1.575MM contract is likely why he cleared waivers. Should he be assigned to the AHL, he’ll account for $625K on the Avalanche’s salary cap. Gelinas’ roster spot will likely go to Mark Barberio, who was claimed off waivers from Montreal on Thursday.

O’Reilly is the older brother of Sabres’ star Ryan O’Reilly. He has one assist in 11 games, but is much better at the AHL level. He has 34 points (8-26-34) in 36 games. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reported Buffalo is looking for an upgrade at the fourth line center position (which O’Reilly had been occupying) via the trade market.

Trade Deadline Notes: Shattenkirk, Fleury, Ribeiro

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The St. Louis Blues are willing to trade Kevin Shattenkirk. They’re even willing to sign him for eight years and then trade him, to facilitate another team acquiring the offensive defenseman.

Unfortunately for the Blues, no teams have shown interest in a sign and trade. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that fear of a flat-cap has lead to any inquiring teams to ask about Shattenkirk as a pure rental. So many teams are already tight to the salary cap, LeBrun writes, that signing Shattenkirk to $7MM annually would be too big of a commitment before the exact cap is known. While he will still get big money should he make it to free agency, that would be in July once teams know “the exact salary-cap figure they’re dealing with before splurging on him.”

LeBrun believes that the Rangers and Bruins have already reached out to the Blues, and that spending assets to acquire a rental like Shattenkirk isn’t in the cards for building teams like the Oilers and Maple Leafs. Blues GM Doug Armstrong will be patient until the trade offers improve before making a decision.

  • Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is on the record as saying having two legitimate starting goaltenders in Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury “doesn’t work ideally.” Despite this, Rutherford told the Pittsburgh Tribune’s Jonathan Bombulie that his “preference is to keep both these goalies here this year.” While it’s understandable to want goaltending depth (they used three goaltenders in last year’s playoffs), the 32-year-old Fleury is clearly the backup now. Rutherford said he will listen to Fleury, and if the veteran wants to be moved now as opposed to the summer, then the GM will do whatever he can to do the right thing for the Penguins’ all-time winningest goaltender. It’ll be interesting to see how the Penguins handle the situation; more than two-thirds of the NHL doesn’t have the cap space to take on Fleury without sending salary back. Cap restraints are one of the biggest reasons we have yet to see any big moves this season.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman appeared on Sportsnet 960 in Calgary on Friday morning, and discussed a possible trade request out of Nashville. Chris Nichols of FanRagSports quoted Friedman as saying Mike Ribeiro may have asked for a trade from the Predators. Friedman couldn’t say for sure, but did say it wouldn’t surprise him because Ribeiro isn’t in the lineup every night nor is he playing a marquee role. Ribeiro has four goals and 25 points in 46 games so far this season. He had 62 and 50 points in his first two seasons in Nashville.

Panthers Activate Barkov And Huberdeau

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After a trying first half, the Panthers are finally getting some claws.

Florida has activated Sasha Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau from Injured Reserve. Both men are expected to return to the lineup for tonight’s game versus Anaheim, according to TSN.

Barkov has been out of the lineup since the end of December with a back injury. In 36 games played, he has nine goals and 18 assists for 27 points. His return will be a big boost for the Panthers. While he was out of action, Vincent Trocheck filled in admirably as the top-line center, leading the Panthers in scoring, but below him either left winger Jussi Jokinen filled in or injury-plagued Nick Bjugstad moved up. Jokinen has 13 points in 41 games while Bjugstad has just one goal and three points in 23 games this season. Barkov is in the first year of a six-year, $35.4MM contract.

Menawhile, Friday’s game versus Anaheim will be the season debut for Huberdeau. He suffered an achilles injury in a pre-season game (Twitter link via @myregularface). Huberdeau was part of a very successful first line last season, alongside Barkov and the legendary Jaromir Jagr. Huberdeau set career highs with 20 goals and 59 points as the Panthers finished first in the Atlantic Division. In his absence, Jon Marchessault and Jokinen filled in.

Despite missing two-thirds of their top line for much of the year and the turmoil surrounding their front office, Florida sits just four points back of Philadelphia for the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. The 22-19-10 Panthers have a game in hand on the Flyers, and will need Barkov and Huberdeau to make hay as they try to get back in the playoff race.

Wild Trade Hagel To Senators For Future Considerations

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The Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators have made a minor trade on Wednesday morning, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.

The Wild have sent minor-league forward Marc Hagel to the Senators in exchange for future considerations. Hagel has 76 points in 198 games at the AHL level. All but six of those games have been with the Iowa Wild. This season, Hagel has two goals and seven points in 26 games. The 28-year-old former NCAA winger has not played in the NHL.

Hagel has one year remaining at $605K. The trade clears a contract off the Wild’s 50-contract limit; they now sit at 47 contracts and the Senators are up to 44. This gives the Western Conference-leading Wild a little more leeway to make trades before the upcoming deadline.

Ottawa has since announced that Hagel will report to Binghamton of the AHL.

Barberio And Gilbert Placed On Waivers

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The Los Angeles Kings and Montreal Canadiens are making waiver moves on Wednesday morning. Defensemen Tom Gilbert and Mark Barberio are both on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Gilbert has five points in 18 games with the Kings so far this season, his first in Los Angeles. He has been in and out of the lineup all season. Gilbert spent the previous two seasons in Montreal, after bouncing around between Minnesota and Florida. He’s perhaps best known for his time in Edmonton, where he developed into a solid top-four defenseman. Gilbert has 223 points in 655 games in the NHL, including a career-high 45-point season with Edmonton in 2008-09, before being traded to the Wild at the 2012 trade deadline for Nick Schultz. Gilbert missed the end of last season with knee-surgery. He’s a bottom-pairing defenseman at this point, and may have to go to the AHL and work his way back to the NHL.

Barberio has four assists in 26 games this season with the Canadiens. This is his second season in Montreal; he had two goals and 10 points in 30 games with the Canadiens last season. Barberio was a free agent signing from the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he had 17 points in 103 games over three seasons. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and ESPN called Barberio a sixth or seventh defenseman who can skate and move the puck; LeBrun wouldn’t be surprised to see a team take a flyer on Barberio. The Canadiens recently acquired defenseman Nikita Nesterov from the Lightning, making Barberio expendable. If he clears, Barberio will be assigned to the St. John’s of the AHL.

In other waiver news, Florida Panthers Dylan McIlrath and Paul Thompson both cleared waivers.

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