Golden Knights Activate Alec Martinez Off LTIR
After Vegas transferred winger Reilly Smith to LTIR on Friday night, it felt like there was a corresponding roster move coming. That move comes on their back end as ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports (Twitter link) that the Golden Knights have activated defenseman Alec Martinez off LTIR.
The 34-year-old has been out since mid-November due to a facial injury and nerve damage and wound up missing a lot more time than initially expected, a total of 53 games overall. Martinez was expected to resume skating after the holiday break but landed in COVID protocol for three weeks, postponing his return to the ice until the end of January. From there, it has taken seven weeks for Martinez to be cleared to return and for Vegas to free up the cap space to activate him off LTIR. With Smith’s $5MM heading to LTIR yesterday, they opened up enough space for Martinez’s $5.25MM to come back.
Martinez’s return will be a big one for a Vegas back end that has undoubtedly missed his reliability in the defensive end. He has averaged just under 20 minutes a game this season (a number that’s somewhat skewed from the game he was injured) in the 11 contests he has been able to play in and should slide back into their top four quickly as they look to get back into the playoff picture; they’re one point out of the last Wild Card spot heading into play today.
Vegas still has two regulars on LTIR – Smith and winger Mark Stone. At this point in time, they don’t have enough cap room to activate either of them when they’ll be ready to return so even with the trade deadline now having passed, their cap situation will still be something to keep an eye on over the final few weeks of the season.
AHL Shuffle: 03/26/22
It’s another busy Saturday across the NHL with a dozen games on the schedule. While the daily roster shuffling has come and gone with the four-recall rule now in effect, there will still be some moves made throughout the day which we’ll keep track of here.
Atlantic Division
Metropolitan Division
Central Division
- The Predators have recalled defenseman Jeremy Davies from AHL Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 25-year-old has been up and down a few times in recent weeks but has spent most of the year in the minors, notching six goals and 25 assists in 54 games with the Admirals.
Pacific Division
- As expected, the Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled winger Will Lockwood from AHL Abbotsford under emergency conditions (meaning it won’t count against their four allowable regular recalls). He’s needed with Matthew Highmore being listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury that’s not believed to be a concussion. Lockwood has done well in his second professional season, notching 25 points in 46 games with the Heat.
- The Sharks have promoted center Lane Pederson from AHL San Jose, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 24-year-old cleared waivers last month and has been productive with the Barracuda, collecting 10 points in 11 games, a sharp contrast from the two assists he has in 26 games at the NHL level.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Central Notes: De Haan, McBain, Forsberg
Before Monday’s trade deadline, many expected that Blackhawks defenseman Calvin de Haan would be on the move but a deal never materialized. Now that he’s still in Chicago, the veteran recently told reporters including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that he’d to stay there beyond this season. De Haan is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and will assuredly wind up with a contract that’s considerably cheaper than his current $4.55MM AAV. The 30-year-old has just five points in 59 games this season but is second on the team in blocked shots with 147 while logging over 19 minutes per contest. However, while de Haan would like to stay in Chicago, the team has young left-shot blueliners Wyatt Kalynuk, Riley Stillman, Alex Vlasic, and Caleb Jones in their system already that are all 24 or younger. For a team committing to a rebuild, it may make more sense to play them more and not bring de Haan back next season.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- The Coyotes will have to wait a while for Jack McBain to make his NHL debut. Head coach Andre Tourigny told Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports (Twitter link) that the 22-year-old’s ankle injury may take longer to heal than expected; instead of him being out for a few days, it could be a few weeks. From a contractual standpoint, McBain’s first year will be burned regardless of whether or not he plays but Arizona would certainly like to get him into some game action to evaluate his readiness for next season.
- With the Predators opting not to trade Filip Forsberg at the trade deadline, Gentry Estes of The Tennessean suggests that Nashville has no real choice but to hand the winger the money he’s seeking to sign a long-term extension. With their last chance to trade him for any value now gone (a negotiating rights trade wouldn’t bring back much), the scribe posits that Forsberg could easily up his asking price with the team no longer having a lot of leverage in discussions. Of course, Forsberg’s play in itself is only making that price go higher as he has 36 goals and 28 assists in 52 games this season; he’s the leading goal-getter among pending unrestricted free agents.
Injury Updates: Kase, Flyers, Sanderson, Drouin
Maple Leafs winger Ondrej Kase has been ruled out for Toronto’s two games this weekend, notes TSN’s Mark Masters (Twitter link). However, while it looked like the 26-year-old suffered a concussion on a hit last Saturday, head coach Sheldon Keefe was quick to point out that Kase hasn’t been diagnosed with anything just yet. Kase has a long concussion history and it stands to reason that they’ll err on the side of caution when it comes to his health. He has yet to be placed on LTIR but with defenseman Jake Muzzin getting closer to returning, that may still happen over the coming days.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- The Flyers announced (via Twitter) that winger Travis Konecny is dealing with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. The 25-year-old has very quietly been on an impressive run in recent weeks, picking up 18 points in 20 games going back to the start of February. Meanwhile, winger Oskar Lindblom returned after missing Thursday’s game with an undisclosed injury.
- The Senators will be waiting a while to get top prospect Jake Sanderson in their lineup as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). The youngster underwent hand surgery earlier this month that will keep him out for four-to-six weeks, putting his availability for the stretch run in question. Ottawa’s team doctors are set to evaluate him which will give them an idea as to whether or not he’ll be able to suit up for a few games down the stretch. Even if he doesn’t play, the first year of his contract will be burned if Ottawa signs him to a deal that begins this season instead of in 2022-23.
- On top of being in COVID protocol for a close contact, the Canadiens announced that winger Jonathan Drouin has been placed on IR with an upper-body injury and is out indefinitely. The 26-year-old had just returned to the lineup after missing 22 games with a wrist issue and it’s unclear if this injury is related to that one or something different altogether.
Golden Knights Place Reilly Smith On LTIR
With the Evgenii Dadonov trade off the table, Vegas has made a different move to give them some short-term cap space as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that winger Reilly Smith has been placed on LTIR.
Smith was originally placed on injured reserve on March 14th so the conversion to LTIR is likely backdated to that point although his last game came back on the 8th. Smith would then be required to miss 10 games and 24 days which would keep him out until the second week of April. The 30-year-old has been a capable secondary scorer throughout his time in Vegas and has provided similar production this season with 16 goals and 22 assists in 56 games.
Of course, there is a money element to this move. Smith’s $5MM cap hit is added to their LTIR pool and with the demotion of defenseman Zack Hayes to AHL Henderson, Vegas now has just under $7MM available in their LTIR pool. That’s enough cap space to activate blueliner Alec Martinez if he’s ready to return. Alternatively, if the Golden Knights dropped down to a minimum-sized roster, they could free up enough space to bring back winger Mark Stone whenever he’s able to come back.
If Smith is able to return this season, this will only be some short-term relief for the Golden Knights. If, however, he’s going to be out for another month or so, this may be enough to give them the relief they were seeking in the Dadonov trade that was invalidated by the NHL earlier this week without needing to attach an asset to get out of Dadonov’s contract.
Pacific Notes: Boeser, Kings, Ducks
Prior to the trade deadline, the Canucks hadn’t made any progress on a contract extension with winger Brock Boeser, reports Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston. It has been a quiet year by the 25-year-old’s standards as he has 19 goals and 19 assists in 60 games, numbers that aren’t bad but aren’t befitting of the $7.5MM salary he’s receiving this season which stands as his qualifying offer in July to retain his rights. It’s that situation that had Boeser in trade speculation heading into the deadline and will continue to have him in that until a new deal can be reached. Vancouver can take him to arbitration and offer 90% of the qualifying offer but that’s as low as they can go and it’s something they can only do once with Boeser.
More from the Pacific:
- Kings defenseman Tobias Bjornfot is nearing a return from the undisclosed injury that has kept him out for the last couple of weeks, relays Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. The 20-year-old has held down a regular spot on the third pairing for Los Angeles this season, averaging over 16 minutes a night in his sophomore year. Meanwhile, winger Brendan Lemieux was a full participant in practice for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury three weeks ago. He leads the Kings in penalty minutes (86) and sits second in hits (108) in his 44 contests.
- Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf is expected to be a game-time decision for Saturday’s game against San Jose, notes Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). The veteran has missed the last three weeks with a lower-body injury but still sits tied for fourth in team scoring. Winger Troy Terry should be back for that game, however, after missing Wednesday’s contest due to illness.
Snapshots: Bertuzzi, Larsson, Bergeron, White, Chara
While Red Wings winger Tyler Bertuzzi has been in some trade speculation as of late, he told reporters including MLive’s Ansar Khan that his desire is to stay with Detroit, the team that drafted him back in the second round in 2013. The 27-year-old has one year left on his deal with a $4.75MM AAV and will become an unrestricted free agent in the 2023 offseason. He sits second on the team in scoring this season with 49 points in 51 games which means GM Steve Yzerman would be placing a very high price tag if a contender wants to take a run at adding Bertuzzi today.
Other news and notes around the league:
- The Coyotes have made some progress on a trade involving center Johan Larsson, reports PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has been out for nearly two months with a lower-body injury but is nearing a return. Larsson has 15 points in 29 games this season but has been a checker for most of his career which is the role contending teams would have in mind for him. With a $1.4MM AAV, he’s someone several teams will be able to afford.
- Boston is hoping that center Patrice Bergeron will be able to return from his arm injury for Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay, note Elaine Cavalieri and Eric Russo of the Bruins’ team site. The veteran will miss his third straight game tonight against Montreal and has 45 points in 56 games this season.
- Senators center Colin White is someone that a couple of league executives believes in play, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 25-year-old recently returned to the lineup after missing the first 50 games of the year with a shoulder injury. He has six points in a dozen contests but with three years remaining on his deal with a $4.75MM AAV, it would be surprising to see him moved unless Ottawa is willing to take a similar-sized deal in return.
- The Oilers are among the teams to check in on Islanders defenseman Zdeno Chara, Chris Johnston reports in his latest Toronto Star column. The 45-year-old is still averaging more than 18 minutes a night and with a base cap hit of just the league minimum of $750K, he’s someone that they should be able to afford with their limited cap space. Chara also has another $750K in undisclosed performance bonuses which an acquiring team may become responsible for absorbing although that can roll over to next year’s cap if necessary.
Capitals Acquire Marcus Johansson
Earlier today, it was reported that the Capitals were among the teams showing interest in winger Marcus Johansson. They have indeed landed the veteran in a trade with Seattle, reports TSN’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link). Samantha Pell of the Washington Post reports (Twitter link) that winger Daniel Sprong and draft picks are going to the Kraken. Johnston adds (via Twitter) that the picks are a 2022 fourth-rounder and a 2023 sixth-rounder.
The 31-year-old is no stranger to Washington having spent the first seven years of his career there after he was their first-round pick (24th overall) back in 2009. However, while he was a key secondary scorer during his stint with the Caps, Johansson has certainly bounced around since then and hasn’t been able to produce with any level of consistency.
After playing with five teams over the past three seasons, Johansson inked a one-year, $1.5MM deal with Seattle back in August with the hopes that he’d be a secondary producer for them. That hasn’t exactly happened, however, as he has just six goals in 51 games although he has chipped in with 17 assists which put him in a tie for seventh in team scoring. He has averaged 16:35 per game this season and it’s quite unlikely he’ll play anywhere close to that in his second stint with the Capitals as he’ll be bottom-six forward depth for them.
Per CapFriendly, Washington has just over $63K in cap space so there needed to be some roster moves made to fit Johansson’s salary. Sprong’s inclusion, coupled with Seattle using their final retention slot to retain half of Johansson’s AAV, allows the Capitals to remain cap-compliant.
Meanwhile, Sprong is an interesting addition for Seattle. The 25-year-old has eight goals and six assists in 47 games with Washington this season and is still controllable through restricted free agency for two more years. He’ll be arbitration-eligible for the first time this summer and is only a year removed from picking up 13 goals and 20 points in 42 games. That would have likely pushed his arbitration value higher than what the Capitals were willing to pay which would have made him a non-tender candidate. Now, he’ll have a chance to make a good first impression with the Kraken for the stretch run.
AHL Shuffle: 03/21/22
It’s certainly a busy day in the NHL today with the trade deadline just hours away plus four games on the schedule. There will be considerable roster movement on the trade front while there will be plenty of paper moves made prior to the 2 PM CT deadline made to give players eligibility to play in the minors down the stretch. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
Atlantic Division
Metropolitan Division
- The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent winger Radim Zohorna to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. The 25-year-old has three points in a dozen games this season with Pittsburgh while adding 15 points in 31 minor league contests.
- The Washington Capitals re-assigned forward Brett Leason to the Hershey Bears of the AHL (link). Leason had just been recalled by the Capitals yesterday, but the re-assignment could be to simply keep Leason’s AHL eligibility for the remainder of the season intact.
Central Division
- The Predators have sent defenseman Jeremy Davies back to Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log. Davies was brought up on Saturday but with Nashville adding Jeremy Lauzon from Seattle late on Sunday, the 25-year-old can head back to the minors.
- The Dallas Stars have sent goaltender Adam Scheel back to the AHL after acquiring Scott Wedgewood yesterday. Scheel, 22, has up as an emergency backup and never actually saw any NHL action. The young netminder is in his first full season of professional hockey.
- The Winnipeg Jets have reassigned Ville Heinola, Jeff Malott, and Kristian Reichel have all been reassigned to the minor leagues, making them eligible. Notably, Cole Perfetti is not with this group, suggesting that his time in the minor leagues is over after impressing so far.
- After making several trades in the past 24 hours, the Arizona Coyotes have recalled two players from the Tuscon Roadrunners of the AHL: forward Michael Carcone and goaltender Josef Korenar. Carcone has played just two games at the NHL level, both coming this season, however he has been a productive AHL player, tallying 24 goals and 17 assists in 48 games with Tuscon this season. Korenar has not played in the NHL yet this season, but did play in 10 games for the San Jose Sharks in 2020-21 and was moved to Arizona this offseason as part of the Adin Hill trade.
- Having traded goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild, the Chicago Blackhawks have recalled goaltender Collin Delia from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Delia has had a solid season playing for Rockford, but has only appeared in two NHL games thus far in 2021-22.
Pacific Division
- The Kraken announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Kole Lind from AHL Charlotte. Lind has played in seven games with Seattle this season after being their pick in expansion from Vancouver but has spent most of the year in the minors. Seattle has also activated winger Joonas Donskoi off injured reserve.
- The Edmonton Oilers have recalled Brad Malone from the AHL after he played a game with the Bakersfield Condors over the weekend. The 32-year-old is actually the captain of the minor league club, but after converting his contract to an NHL deal has played six games for the Oilers.
- Jake Leschyshyn and Brayden Pachal are heading back up to the Vegas Golden Knights. Leschyshyn’s seen a lot of NHL opportunities this year, getting into 27 games this year and notching his first five NHL points. Pachal made his NHL debut recently before immediately getting sent back down, but he may get another chance here in some NHL games.
- The San Jose Sharks announced they have re-assigned goaltender Zach Sawchenko to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. In addition to this, the team recalled forward Sasha Chmelevski and defenseman Ryan Merkley from the Barracuda, and activated Radim Simek off of injured-reserve.
- After placing Michael Amadio and Zach Whitecloud in COVID protocol and trading away Evgenii Dadonov, the Vegas Golden Knights announced they have called up four players: forwards Paul Cotter and Jonas Rondbjerg and defensemen Daniil Miromanov and Zack Hayes. Of this group, only Hayes does not have any NHL playing experience, spending this season and last in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights, and the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL before that.
- The Vancouver Canucks also made a flurry of AHL assignments, primarily for the purpose of keeping players’ AHL ability alive. The organization announced it assigned forwards Sheldon Rempal, Vasily Podkolzin, and Nic Petan, as well as defenseman Noah Juulsen to the Abbotsford Canucks. Podkolzin and Petan were immediately recalled back to Vancouver.
- The Anaheim Ducks announced they have recalled forward Danny O’Regan from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. O’Regan, 28, has played parts of four seasons dating back to 2016-17, including four games this season with Anaheim.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Senators Sign Anton Forsberg To Three-Year Extension
Scratch Anton Forsberg off the list of possible trade candidates from Ottawa. Instead, the Senators announced that they’ve signed the netminder to a three-year extension. The deal carries a cap hit of $2.75MM with a breakdown as follows:
2022-23: $2.55MM
2023-24: $2.95MM
2024-25: $2.75MM
The 29-year-old has certainly found a home in Ottawa. After being claimed on waivers three separate times last season, Forsberg did well enough in limited action down the stretch to earn a modest one-year, $900K extension, a decent reward for someone that had bounced around as much as he had. The hope was that he’d battle for the backup spot behind Matt Murray this season but Forsberg has certainly outperformed that contract.
This season, Forsberg has played in 31 games (29 starts), posting a 2.77 GAA along with a .918 SV% that’s well above the league average. As a result, that made him one of the more interesting trade candidates if Ottawa was open to moving him, especially with his cap hit being low enough for most contenders to afford. Instead, they’ve decided to commit to him, tripling his price tag in the process.
With Forsberg signed for three more years and Murray under contract for two more seasons, it appears as if the Senators have their goalie tandem intact for a little while. That will call into question the future of Filip Gustavsson. Once regarded as a possible goalie of the future for Ottawa, the 23-year-old has struggled considerably with the Sens this season and has a save percentage of just .886 along with a 3.78 GAA. He’s waiver-eligible next season so a decision will need to be made on his future over the coming months.