Atlantic Notes: Panthers, Jeannot, Samsonov, Quinn
The Panthers will welcome back a pair of key forwards tonight as they take on Tampa Bay. The team announced that center Sam Bennett and winger Evan Rodrigues have been cleared to return and will suit up. Bennett missed Thursday’s game against Carolina with an undisclosed injury while Rodrigues has been out since last weekend due to a lower-body injury. Bennett has battled injury issues this season but still has 16 goals and 16 assists in 54 games while Rodrigues has done well in his first year in Florida, collecting 10 goals and a career-best 26 assists through 65 games so far.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Lightning winger Tanner Jeannot is with the team as their road trip gets underway, notes Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has missed the last month with a lower-body injury. Jeannot has had a quiet year, notching six goals and six assists in 42 games although he does have 162 hits to his credit as well. He took part in the morning skate but isn’t expected to suit up against Florida tonight.
- While Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov exited today’s morning skate early with what looked to be an injury, head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link) that Samsonov is fine and will get the start tonight against Carolina. Samsonov has rebounded well after a disastrous start to his season, posting a .912 SV% since January 1st compared to the .862 mark he put up in his first three months of the year.
- Sabres winger Jack Quinn skated Friday for the first time as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays WGR 550’s Paul Hamilton (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has been limited to just 17 games so far this season due to injuries but has been productive in those, notching five goals and seven assists. There is still no timetable for when he might return but has been ruled out for their five-game road trip that began today.
Hurricanes Sign Spencer Martin To One-Year Extension
Spencer Martin has made a positive impression since joining the Hurricanes on waivers in mid-January. He was rewarded for his efforts today as the team announced they’ve signed the goaltender to a one-year, one-way contract extension worth $775K. GM Don Waddell released the following statement on the move:
Spencer has been an excellent addition to our team. He stepped right in and played well for us, and we’re excited to sign him for next season.
Waddell is certainly correct about Martin playing well since Carolina picked him up. The 28-year-old has made five starts with his new team, winning four while posting a 1.97 GAA along with a .922 SV%. Those numbers are a vast improvement on the 3.65 and .887 marks he put up in 13 appearances with the Blue Jackets.
Martin has bounced around this season. He attended training camp with Vancouver but was waived soon after they picked up Casey DeSmith from Montreal. Columbus quickly scooped him up with Daniil Tarasov being injured to start the season. Once he returned, the Blue Jackets briefly carried three goalies before putting him back on the wire where Carolina picked him up with injury concerns of their own.
At the moment, Martin is Carolina’s third-string goalie with Antti Raanta playing in the minors. That’s likely to remain his role for next season with Pyotr Kochetkov and Frederik Andersen both under contract for 2024-25. Martin could have become an unrestricted free agent in July but instead, he has decided that staying put is the right course of action with what will be his third-straight season on a one-way agreement.
Lightning Recall Emil Lilleberg On Emergency Basis
The Lightning have added an extra blueliner to their roster heading into their five-game road trip as the team announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Emil Martinsen Lilleberg from AHL Syracuse.
It’s the second recall of the season for the 23-year-old who was originally drafted by Arizona in 2021 but signed with Tampa Bay after the Coyotes elected not to sign him. Lilleberg played in 23 games with the Lightning during his first stint with the big club, picking up three assists along with 24 blocks and 69 hits while logging nearly 16 minutes a night of ice time. With the Crunch, meanwhile, Lilleberg has two goals and 11 helpers in 33 contests so far.
CapFriendly notes (Twitter link) that this has been classified as an emergency loan, meaning that it won’t against Tampa Bay’s four post-deadline recalls. It also suggests that the availability of one of their blueliners is in question for tonight’s game against Florida. However, that designation also means that Lilleberg has to be returned to the minors once the emergency situations ends or be converted to a regular recall which would count against their recall limit.
Snapshots: Ducks, Bortuzzo, Larkin
Prior to their game tonight against Winnipeg, the Ducks announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Radko Gudas was out with an upper-body injury while center Mason McTavish was out with a lower-body issue. Gudas was injured early in Thursday’s contest against Minnesota while McTavish made it through the game. Gudas is averaging 19:24 per night in his first year on Anaheim’s back end, his highest ATOI since the 2015-16 season, his first in Philadelphia. McTavish, meanwhile, has had a strong sophomore year with 40 points in 56 games so far, good for fourth on team scoring. There’s word for how long either player will be out for. Notably, Anaheim could only dress 11 forwards so if McTavish is to miss any time beyond tonight’s action, a recall will likely be coming from AHL San Diego.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Islanders have activated defenseman Robert Bortuzzo off LTIR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The 34-year-old was acquired from St. Louis back in December but then suffered a lower-body injury in early January, one that has kept him out for the last ten weeks. Bortuzzo has been limited to third-pairing duty in his 15 appearances so far this season as he’s averaging just 13:40 per night while chipping in with 20 hits and 21 blocked shots. Bortuzzo is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
- Red Wings center Dylan Larkin briefly took part in practice today as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays MLive’s Ansar Khan. However, he has already been ruled out for their two games this weekend and head coach Derek Lalonde expressed some hesitance about his captain returning on Tuesday as well. Detroit has lost five straight without Larkin, who is still tied for the team lead in scoring with 26 goals and 28 assists in 55 games so far.
Blackhawks Recall Lukas Reichel
With Lukas Reichel being an important part of Chicago’s rebuild, it was only a matter of time before he was given another look with the Blackhawks. That time has come as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the winger has been recalled from AHL Rockford although he was a healthy scratch tonight against Los Angeles. In a corresponding move, winger Zach Sanford was assigned to the IceHogs.
Expectations were high for the 21-year-old coming into the season after how he fared last season in Chicago when he collected seven goals and eight assists in just 23 games. With the Blackhawks having several openings up front, the hope was that Reichel could grab hold of a full-time top-six role.
However, that didn’t happen. Instead, Reichel struggled in a variety of spots on the depth chart while also getting a look at center for a handful of games. He wound up notching just three goals and seven helpers in his first 50 appearances, resulting in Chicago deciding to send him down last month for a bit of a reset.
While Reichel didn’t light it up with the IceHogs, he did have some success with a goal and six assists in nine appearances. Last year, Reichel made his biggest impact following a post-deadline recall and now, the Blackhawks hope that history will repeat itself. With Reichel being a restricted free agent this summer, he’ll be counting on a big finish to help his case in contract discussions in the offseason.
As for Sanford, he has split the season between Arizona and Chicago, who claimed him off waivers back in January. He has played in 29 NHL games between the two organizations, collecting six assists while averaging just under 11 minutes a night of action. Sanford cleared waivers last month and had been papered down at the trade deadline, permitting him to play in Rockford moving forward.
2024 AHL Trade Deadline Roundup
The AHL trade deadline was today, one week after the NHL’s trade deadline. We saw the Senators swing a pair of trades today for the NHL rights to players who were then assigned to their affiliate while a handful of other moves were made. Here’s a rundown of those per the AHL’s transactions log.
- The Red Wings recalled defenseman Jared McIsaac from his loan in Switzerland and moved him to Boston’s farm team in exchange for center Curtis Hall. McIsaac had four points in 15 games for Grand Rapids and suited up just three times with Ambri-Piotta. Hall, meanwhile, has been fairly productive in limited action with the Bruins’ affiliate, notching six points in a dozen appearances. Both players are restricted free agents with arbitration rights this summer and if the swap works well, the two teams could execute it at the NHL level in the summer.
- The Sharks have found a new place to play for winger Ozzy Wiesblatt, loaning him to Milwaukee. The 22-year-old was a first-round pick by San Jose back in 2020 (31st overall) but has struggled this season, notching just three goals and eight assists in 34 games. Wiesblatt is signed through next season and his AHL rights will revert to the Barracuda for 2024-25.
- Tampa Bay’s affiliate picked up defenseman Quinn Schmiemann from Abbotsford. It’s a return of sorts for the 22-year-old who was drafted by the Lightning back in 2019 but didn’t sign with them. Schmiemann played in 25 games this season with the Canucks’ affiliate, picking up a goal and five assists.
- New Jersey’s affiliate picked up blueliner Austin Osmanski from St. Louis’ farm team. The 25-year-old has seen AHL action in the past three seasons but has been limited to just ten contests so far where he has an assist and 20 penalty minutes.
West Notes: Hronek, Johansson, Firstov, Blackhawks
With Elias Pettersson’s extension now in place, Canucks GM Patrik Allvin can shift his focus to signing his other key pending restricted free agent. Speaking with Sportsnet 650 (audio link), Allvin confirmed that the team has offered an extension to defenseman Filip Hronek. His first full season with Vancouver has been a successful one as the 26-year-old has already set career highs in assists (40) and points (45) while averaging a little under 24 minutes a night. Hronek is owed a qualifying offer of $5.28MM but stands to earn considerably more than that on a long-term deal this summer with arbitration rights. Hronek is only one year away from UFA eligibility so if these discussions don’t go well, he could simply elect to file for arbitration, take the award, and look to test the open market in 2025.
More from the West:
- Wild forward Marcus Johansson skated at practice today as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays John Shipley of the Pioneer Press. The issue has held him out of the lineup for the last three games and it’s not yet known if that stretch will be extended as head coach John Hynes was unsure of Johansson’s availability for tomorrow. The 33-year-old has 27 points in 61 games so far this season.
- Still with the Wild, The Athletic’s Michael Russo notes (Twitter link) that prospect Vladislav Firstov’s KHL season has ended, suggesting that he could now return to AHL Iowa. The 22-year-old is in the second season of his entry-level deal but has spent pretty much that entire time at the KHL level with Torpedo. This season, Firstov had 17 goals and 18 assists in 67 regular season games and while he’s unlikely to join Minnesota (unlike Marat Khusnutdinov whose NHL debut is likely to come this week), he could benefit from simply getting in some AHL contests.
- The Blackhawks were quiet at the trade deadline as expected. However, they weren’t involved as a third-party salary retainer, a move that caught some by surprise. GM Kyle Davidson told reporters including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that while he received some inquiries from teams about playing that role, he felt the late-round picks on the table weren’t worth losing the flexibility. While those slots likely would have reset in July when free agency came around, the Blackhawks now will have the ability to retain on a pair of trades at draft time if that helps to bring in an extra asset or two.
Snapshots: Canadiens, Danforth, Kings
The Canadiens were relatively quiet on trade deadline day with their only move coming late in the day when they moved Jake Allen to New Jersey. However, ESPN’s Kristen Shilton notes that Montreal did have interest in wingers Tanner Pearson and Joel Armia but not to the point where GM Kent Hughes was compelled to make a move. The Canadiens only had one available retention slot which was used on Allen which likely limited the market for Pearson, a pending unrestricted free agent. Meanwhile, Armia has rebounded relatively well after clearing waivers at the beginning of the season and has 11 goals in 48 games so far. However, he also has another season left at $3.4MM so teams likely would have been asking Montreal to retain salary or take back another contract to help facilitate a deal.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Blue Jackets forward Justin Danforth is dealing with a concussion and will be out longer than day-to-day, team reporter Jeff Svoboda relays (Twitter link). The 30-year-old missed Saturday’s game against Nashville with what was called an illness at the time. Danforth is in the middle of a career year, notching 10 goals and 11 assists through 63 games so far. Danforth inked a one-year, $1.1MM contract extension back in October meaning he won’t be eligible for unrestricted free agency until the 2025 offseason.
- Kings GM Rob Blake recently told reporters including Andrew Knoll of the Los Angeles Daily News that there haven’t been any discussions about a contract extension with pending unrestricted free agents Viktor Arvidsson and Matt Roy. Arvidsson has been limited to just four games this season due to injuries so the hesitance there certainly makes sense. However, Roy has been a key cog on the back end for Los Angeles for several years now so it stands to reason that they’d like to keep him around even with him almost certainly eyeing a sizable raise from his current $3.15MM AAV. However, it appears those talks may have to wait until after the season.
Capitals Activate T.J. Oshie Off Injured Reserve
The Capitals welcomed back a veteran winger to their lineup tonight as Sammi Silber of The Hockey News relayed that T.J. Oshie was taken off injured reserve. He took the place of winger Tom Wilson in the lineup with the team announcing (Twitter link) that Wilson was out due to an upper-body injury.
Oshie had missed nearly three weeks due to a non-contact upper-body injury. While his numbers on the season (ten goals and eight assists in 38 games) are a bit underwhelming for someone who is used to being a key secondary scorer, the 37-year-old has been much more productive as of late. Since the calendar turned to 2024, Oshie has tallied eight goals and six assists in 17 contests, way closer to the level of output that Washington needs and expects from the veteran.
As for Wilson, he is in the middle of a down year offensively as well. Through 61 games, he has 15 goals and 13 assists while once again being among the league leaders in penalty minutes. However, his 0.46 points-per-game average is his lowest since the 2017-18 campaign. That’s not what the Capitals were hoping for when they signed him to a seven-year, $45.5MM contract extension back in August. Oshie will take Wilson’s place on Washington’s second line.
While center Nic Dowd and defenseman Martin Fehervary have been cleared for contact in recent days, they both have not yet been activated off injured reserve. When that time comes, the Capitals will be back up to 23 skaters on their active roster after carrying the minimum in recent days.
Five Key Stories: 3/4/24 – 3/10/24
The trade deadline has come and gone and as expected, it wound up being a busy few days across the league. The full Friday activity is recapped here while several of the biggest swaps are specifically noted in our key stories.
Shakeup In Colorado: Heading into the trade deadline, the Avalanche were thought to be looking for center help and perhaps a backup goalie. They wound up being quite active. They picked up Sean Walker from Philadelphia in exchange for Ryan Johansen and Colorado’s 2025 first-round pick. With an extra defender and a hole down the middle, they then moved blueliner Bowen Byram to Buffalo for Casey Mittelstadt in one of the biggest moves of the week. Byram, a former top-four pick, is a big loss but Mittelstadt gives them a legitimate offensive threat to anchor the second line. GM Chris MacFarland then shook up his bottom six group with a trio of moves, acquiring winger Yakov Trenin from Nashville and winger Brandon Duhaime from Minnesota while moving Ben Meyers to Anaheim to cap a busy few days. All that and they wound up not getting the goalie.
Vegas Goes All In: It has been a rough go as of late for the Golden Knights who have slipped to a Wild Card spot in the West. That didn’t stop GM Kelly McCrimmon from going for it. First, he picked up winger Anthony Mantha (with 50% retention) from Washington for a second-round pick and a fourth-rounder. The Golden Knights then added defenseman Noah Hanifin from Calgary for a 2025 first-round pick, a conditional 2025 third-rounder, and blueliner Daniil Miromanov, then flipped a 2024 fifth-rounder to Philadelphia to get Hanifin’s cost down to 25% of his AAV. That gave them enough room to make the most surprising move of trade deadline day, acquiring center Tomas Hertl along with a pair of third-round picks from San Jose in exchange for center prospect David Edstrom and a 2025 first-round pick; San Jose retained 17.05% of Hertl’s AAV in the swap. Hertl is out for a few more weeks at least but if Vegas is able to hold onto a playoff spot, they certainly have strengthened their lineup and could be a force in the West.
Devils Fire Ruff: The week wasn’t all about trade-related activity. The Devils elected to make a coaching change, firing head coach Lindy Ruff while promoting Travis Green to the interim role. Ruff, who had signed a multi-year extension back in October, was in his fourth season behind New Jersey’s bench with the team playing to a 128-125-28 record. Last season, he helped lead the Devils to a 112-point campaign, their best in franchise history but this year, the team had underachieved and is on the outside looking in at a playoff spot which resulted in the change. Green, meanwhile, was New Jersey’s associate coach this season and has head coaching experience from his time with Vancouver. He’ll be in the role for the remainder of the season and GM Tom Fitzgerald will re-assess from there.
Extensions: At this time of year, there are often plenty of extension as players often find themselves in ‘extend or be traded’ situations. There were several of those as Nashville took center Thomas Novak off the market after signing him to a three-year, $10.5MM extension, a nice reward for a player who was a regular in the minors a year and a half ago. The Flyers inked Nick Seeler to a four-year, $12.8MM extension, quite a raise for a player making the minimum on a two-way contract which helped pave the way for the Walker trade. Seattle had one of the more tradable wingers on deadline day in Jordan Eberle but instead of moving him, they agreed to a two-year, $9.5MM extension, one that is a small pay cut but gives him full no-trade protection in return.
The extensions weren’t all just extend or be traded players, however. The Capitals opted to not wait for the summer to work out a new deal with defenseman Rasmus Sandin, giving him a five-year, $23MM extension that buys them three extra years of club control. Meanwhile, the Panthers took care of one of their key pending unrestricted free agents as they handed blueliner Gustav Forsling a max-term eight-year, $46MM extension. Claimed off waivers in 2021, Forsling has gone from a depth defender to one of the anchors on the back end for Florida.
More Big Moves: There were several other big moves across the league. The league-leading Panthers made a notable acquisition up front, acquiring winger Vladimir Tarasenko for a 2025 third-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-rounder. Tarasenko had full trade protection and made it known that he wanted to go to Florida which didn’t help Ottawa in terms of maximizing his value. The Hurricanes, not a team that typically goes after prominent rentals, broke that trend as they added winger Jake Guentzel (who is nearing a return from his upper-body injury) along with blueliner Ty Smith from Pittsburgh for winger Michael Bunting, forward prospects Ville Koivunen, Vasiliy Ponomarev, and Cruz Lucius, a conditional 2024 first-round pick, and a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick. The first-rounder becomes a second if Carolina doesn’t make the Stanley Cup Final while the fifth only moves if Carolina wins the Stanley Cup.
Some Western teams made key splashes as well. Edmonton elected to add to their center depth by bringing in Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick from Anaheim in exchange for a 2024 first-round selection as well as a conditional 2025 fifth-round selection that becomes a fourth if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup. In order to get a total of 75% retention on Henrique, the Oilers also flipped Tampa Bay a conditional 2025 fourth-rounder. Winnipeg made one trade of note last month with the addition of Sean Monahan but made another one when they sent a 2025 second-round pick and a 2024 third-rounder to New Jersey for Tyler Toffoli. All players acquired in this section by contenders are pending unrestricted free agents.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.