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.
Capitals Notes: Johansson, Stevenson, Van Riemsdyk, Defense Target
The Capitals are among the teams that have shown interest in Kraken winger Marcus Johansson, reports TSN’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link). The 31-year-old has had a bit of a quiet year in Seattle with six goals and 17 assists in 51 games but is someone that Washington is certainly familiar with as Johansson spent his first seven NHL seasons with the Caps. Cap space is next to non-existent for them, however (just $63K per CapFriendly) so finding a way to fit in Johansson’s $1.5MM cap hit will be a bit tricky and Seattle has already used two of their three retention slots in the Calle Jarnkrok and Mark Giordano trades.
More from Washington:
- The Capitals are among the teams interested in college free agent goaltender Clay Stevenson, relays Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 23-year-old technically just wrapped up his freshman year at Dartmouth and did well, posting a 2.70 GAA along with a .922 SV% in 23 games. El-Bashir adds that several NHL teams are interested in the netminder. Dartmouth isn’t among the teams in the NCAA tournament so Stevenson is someone that can sign at any time.
- Washington has placed defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk on injured reserve, notes Roman Stubbs of the Washington Post. He suffered an upper-body injury on Friday against Carolina and will be eligible to return on Saturday against New Jersey. The 30-year-old has played in 58 games this season, collecting 14 points while averaging nearly 18 minutes per game.
- Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press suggests (Twitter link) that a low-cost left-shot defenseman is something Washington would like to add. Michal Kempny is up with the big club but carries a $2.5MM AAV; bringing in a lower-cost depth option could allow them to send Kempny back to the minors (pending waivers) which would help free up a little bit of cap space.
Coyotes Agree To Three-Year Extension With Karel Vejmelka
On Sunday, the Coyotes parted ways with one of their goalies in Scott Wedgewood. Today, they’re ensuring that Karel Vejmelka will be sticking around as Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports (Twitter link) that Arizona has agreed to a three-year extension with the netminder. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds (via Twitter) that the deal will carry a $2.725MM AAV.
The 25-year-old has certainly been a pleasant surprise for Arizona this season. He signed a one-year entry-level deal back in May after playing in the Czech Extraliga and at the time, he was viewed as organizational goaltending depth and not a serious candidate to make the NHL roster. However, a strong training camp earned him a spot with the Coyotes and he has taken off from there.
Vejmelka quickly took over from the since-traded Carter Hutton as Arizona’s starter and has done well, considering the circumstances. His save percentage of .905 is particularly impressive considering that the Coyotes’ roster is geared more towards draft lottery success than on-ice success this season. His performance has picked up in recent games as over his last ten starts, his save percentage is up to .912 while the Coyotes have won four of those contests.
With this agreement, Arizona will have at least part of their goalie tandem intact for the next three seasons. They’ve yet to recall someone to take Wedgewood’s spot following his trade with Ivan Prosvetov and Josef Korenar being the likely candidates to fill that spot down the stretch. Neither of them project to be full-time NHL goalies, however, so the Coyotes will likely be shopping for a new partner for Vejmelka in the offseason.
Penguins Acquire Nathan Beaulieu
The Penguins have added some low-cost defensive depth as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that they’ve acquired Nathan Beaulieu from the Jets. In return, Winnipeg receives a conditional seventh-round draft pick. CapFriendly provides the specifics of the condition – for the Jets to get the pick, Pittsburgh has to make it to the Stanley Cup Final with Beaulieu playing in at least half of their games.
It has been a tough year for the 29-year-old as Beaulieu has played in just 24 games this season while being scratched 21 times. His role has been diminished when he has been in there as he’s averaging just under 11 minutes per game in those contests, nearly five minutes below his career average while picking up just four assists in that stretch.
On top of that, Beaulieu is currently on LTIR with an undisclosed injury with his placement coming back on March 9th. That means that he’s out for the rest of the month at a minimum and potentially longer. His $1.25MM AAV will slide into Pittsburgh’s current LTIR space with Jason Zucker still on there for the time being although he is expected to be activated in the coming weeks. If Beaulieu does return between now and the end of the season, the Penguins would have to make some roster moves to get cap-compliant but if he’s only able to return for the playoffs, they won’t have to worry about the cap then and they’ll have themselves a veteran of over 400 career NHL games for next to no cost.
Myers, Desrosiers Clear Waivers
March 20: Myers and Desrosiers have cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the minor leagues. Mayhew was claimed by the Anaheim Ducks and will stay in the NHL for now.
March 19: With there being just two days before the trade deadline, there should be an uptick of waiver activity before then. That started today as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Philippe Myers (Predators), Gerry Mayhew (Flyers), and Phillipe Desrosiers (Jets) are all on waivers.
Myers is easily the headline player on this list. His stock has fallen sharply since establishing himself as a regular on Philadelphia’s back end in 2019-20. He was part of the Ryan Ellis traded over the summer with the hope that a change of scenery would get him going again. That hasn’t happened. Instead, the 25-year-old has played in just 27 games this season while spending even more time as a healthy scratch. With 142 games of NHL experience over four seasons and being a big right-shot defender, Myers could, in theory, be appealing to some teams. However, he has a $2.55MM AAV through next season and his salary jumps to $3.8MM in 2022-23. That will certainly limit his suitors which explains why he’s on the waiver wire today and not being traded. Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press suggests (Twitter link) that the Flyers could be a team to claim Myers knowing that they’re likely to move pending UFA Justin Braun by Monday’s trade deadline.
Mayhew has played in 29 games with Philadelphia this season, his longest stretch of NHL action and he has been somewhat productive with six goals although he has yet to record an assist while logging over 12 minutes a game. The 29-year-old has been a top scorer at the AHL level for the last several years and has 16 points in 24 games with Lehigh Valley of the AHL this season. Mayhew is making $800K at the NHL level this season and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As for Desrosiers, his placement means that he has agreed to an NHL deal with Winnipeg with the team announcing it will carry a $750K cap hit. The 26-year-old has played in three games with their AHL affiliate in Manitoba this season but has spent the majority of the year with Trois-Rivieres of the ECHL. He’ll continue to serve as extra depth for them but will now be eligible to be recalled if they need him. The Jets had 10 open contract slots out of the maximum of 50 so there’s no risk in them handing out this contract.
West Notes: Doughty, Sturm, Fleury, Broberg
The news for Kings defenseman Drew Doughty doesn’t appear to be good as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the blueliner’s undisclosed injury is more significant than the team believed and that he’ll be out longer than expected as a result. The veteran suffered the injury back on March 7th against Boston and was placed on injured reserve back on Sunday. If Doughty winds up having to miss the next six weeks, his $11MM AAV could be shifted to LTIR, giving Los Angeles extra cap room to work with at the trade deadline. Of course, it must also be said that without their top rearguard, the Kings will face a tougher battle to make it to the postseason.
More from the Western Conference:
- Prior to trading him to Colorado, the Wild offered center Nico Sturm a long-term contract extension, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription link). Obviously, that offer was rejected and he was instead traded for Tyson Jost. Speculatively, that offer would have been around the $2MM that Jost is making.
- With the trade deadline just over 48 hours away now, it appears to be all quiet on the Marc-Andre Fleury front, suggests Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link). Fleury has been assured by the Blackhawks that he’ll have the final decision as to whether or not he’ll accept a trade even though he doesn’t have a full no-trade clause. LeBrun notes that at this point, there have been some general inquiries but none that could be described as serious.
- Oilers defenseman Philip Broberg suffered an injury in Friday’s AHL game and is set to undergo an MRI, notes Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 20-year-old has played in 22 games with Edmonton this season and if he’s going to miss any extended period of time, it could push them to look to add some extra defensive depth by the deadline.
Nino Niederreiter Receives One-Game Suspension
The Department of Player Safety has made a quick decision regarding Carolina’s Nino Niederreiter. They announced (video link) that the Hurricanes winger has been suspended for one game for his hit on Washington winger Axel Jonsson-Fjallby.
The incident occurred at 13:50 of the first period during Carolina’s 4-3 shootout loss on Friday. He was assessed a minor penalty for slashing at the time. Niederreiter was checked into Washington’s bench, losing his helmet along the way. Once he had freed himself, he slashed the Capitals winger in the helmet.
In their video, it was noted that the minimal force that Niederreiter used to hit Jonsson-Fjallby is the sole reason why the suspension isn’t for longer than the one game. Niederreiter will miss Sunday’s game against the Rangers and will be eligible to return to Carolina’s lineup on Tuesday against the Lightning. He will forfeit $26.25K as a result of the suspension with the money going to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.