AHL Shuffle: 03/19/22
The final Saturday before the trade deadline typically yields some activity on the trade front. On top of that, with 22 teams in action, there should be plenty of AHL-NHL roster movement as well. We’ll keep track of those here.
Atlantic Division
- The Senators announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Dillon Heatherington from AHL Belleville. The blueliner isn’t expected to play tonight against Montreal barring a late scratch due to an injury or a trade. Heatherington has played in nine games for Ottawa so far this season.
- The Bruins have returned defenseman Jack Ahcan to AHL Providence, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 24-year-old has been up with Boston for most of the last month but has almost exclusively been in a reserve role. He’ll get a chance to get some game action in with Providence having a pair of games against Charlotte this weekend.
Metropolitan Division
- After clearing waivers, the Flyers have loaned winger Ryan Fitzgerald to Lehigh Valley of the AHL, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 27-year-old had been on season-opening IR until yesterday and is coming off an impressive 2020-21 campaign that saw him pick up 21 points in 28 games with the Phantoms.
Central Division
- The Predators have recalled defensemen Matt Tennyson and Jeremy Davies from AHL Milwaukee, per a team release. Tennyson has three points in four games with the Preds this season while Davies has only made one NHL appearance this season back in late January. The recalls were needed with the team placing Mark Borowiecki (lower body) and Matt Benning (upper body) on injured reserve.
- The Jets announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent winger Kristian Vesalainen to Manitoba of the AHL. The 22-year-old has played in 53 games this season with Winnipeg but has just two goals and three assists. Once viewed as a top prospect after he was picked 24th overall in 2017, the assignment should allow Vesalainen to play a much bigger role compared to the 8:30 ATOI he has this season.
Pacific Division
- The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Christian Wolanin from AHL Ontario. This is the fifth time that the 27-year-old has been shuffled between the NHL and the minors since last Saturday.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Kings Sign Taylor Ward
The Kings have added to their prospect pool as the team announced that they’ve signed forward Taylor Ward to a one-year, entry-level contract. The deal is for next season and Ward will join Ontario of the AHL on an ATO agreement for the remainder of this season.
The 22-year-old recently wrapped up his fourth and final season with the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Through his first three years, he had been fairly consistent offensively, notching between 22 and 27 points but this season, Ward was able to take a big step forward in his production. In 38 games, he led the Mavericks in scoring with 19 goals and 20 assists and was the only player on the team to score more than 10 goals which likely got the power forward on the NHL radar.
Ward’s cap hit will be $842.5K next season. That suggests a base salary of $750K plus a maximum $92.5K signing bonus which means there will be at least $82.5K in performance bonuses in the deal as well.
East Notes: Ekblad, Domi, Hagg
Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad left Friday’s game early due to a lower-body injury but interim head coach Andrew Brunette told reporters, including David Wilson of the Miami Herald, that the injury isn’t as bad as it first appeared, indicating that there was no structural damage. While there’s no timetable yet for his return, Brunette is “very hopeful” that his star blueliner won’t be out for long. Ekblad suffered a serious ankle injury late last season that took him out for the playoffs which dealt a serious blow to their postseason hopes. Although it appears he’ll miss some time, Ekblad has avoided a similar fate this time around.
Other news and notes from the East:
- There haven’t been any recent discussions between the Blue Jackets and Max Domi regarding a contract extension, notes David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). The 27-year-old has 32 points in 52 games this season and the fact he can play on the wing and down the middle should be of interest to playoff-bound teams. What won’t be something many of those contenders have interest in, however, is his contract, as his $5.3MM cap hit is one that will be difficult for them to afford. Regardless, Columbus should be able to find a trade taker for him by Monday.
- The Penguins have shown interest in Sabres defenseman Robert Hagg, reports Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription link). Cap space will be an issue for Pittsburgh with all of their current space coming from Jason Zucker who’s on LTIR but will return next month but if Buffalo is able to retain half of Hagg’s $1.6MM AAV, his cap hit would be just above the league minimum which is something they should be able to afford.
Strong Interest In Artturi Lehkonen
The Canadiens have already moved out two key players in winger Tyler Toffoli (traded to Calgary last month) and defenseman Ben Chiarot (moved to Florida on Wednesday). Now, it appears they’ll have another big decision to make when it comes to winger Artturi Lehkonen as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that there is strong interest in the 26-year-old. However, Montreal is apparently weighing that against the prospect of signing the pending RFA to a long-term extension.
Lehkonen has spent his entire six-year career with the Canadiens who drafted him in the second round (55th overall) back in 2013. He scored 18 goals in his rookie season but has failed to reach that mark since then although he has 13 in 57 games this season. However, he has become a very valuable defensive winger that plays on both wings and can play up and down the lineup while logging heavy minutes on the penalty kill. He played that role in Montreal’s playoff run last season while also scoring the series winner against Vegas to send them to the Stanley Cup Final.
At $2.3MM, his price tag is low enough that most teams could afford him this season, particularly if Montreal uses one of their two remaining retention slots to pay down up to 50% of that. Considering the returns that teams have paid for middle-six wingers with some team control in recent years (Tampa Bay’s acquisitions of Barclay Goodrow, Blake Coleman, and Brandon Hagel among them), it’s expected that the Canadiens will place a similar price tag to part with Lehkonen; Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that Montreal’s ask involves a first-round pick or equivalent prospect and potentially a second asset.
Of course, this is a different situation. While Lehkonen is still controllable for one more year, he’s not signed for next season and will be eyeing a raise this summer, one that will likely push him past the $3MM mark. Goodrow, Coleman, and Hagel all had at least one year left on their existing contracts at a below-market rate which helped drive their value up significantly.
In his press conference earlier this week, GM Kent Hughes indicated he wasn’t interested in having a fire sale for his team. However, with there being strong interest in Lehkonen, it appears he’ll need to seriously consider parting with another important player with an opportunity to add another future asset or two to their stockpile.
Metropolitan Notes: Rangers, Smith, Korpisalo, Parise, Oshie
The Rangers are among the teams that have done some research into Coyotes winger Phil Kessel, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports. The 34-year-old is in the final season of his contract with Arizona carrying a $6.8MM cap hit, one that few playoff-bound teams other than New York can actually afford without requiring retention. Kessel has just six goals in 60 games but has chipped in with 31 assists to sit fourth in team scoring. Kaplan notes that Arizona’s asking price earlier in the season was a third-round pick which would be a reasonable price to pay to add some extra offensive depth on the wing. The Rangers already made a move like that this week with the acquisition of Frank Vatrano but they still have cap and roster space to add more help on that front.
More from the Metropolitan:
- While Hurricanes defenseman Brendan Smith returned to the lineup on Thursday after suffering a broken skull, Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal notes that the veteran still hasn’t fully regained his hearing in his left ear. It is expected to gradually improve over time and shouldn’t require surgery but it’s something Smith will have to play through for the time being.
- The Blue Jackets haven’t had much interest in goaltender Joonas Korpisalo so far, notes Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. Earlier in the season, they had hoped to pick up a second-round pick or a third rounder for his services but Seravalli pegs their asking price at a late-round selection now. It has been a tough year for the pending UFA as he has a save percentage of just .880 in 20 games this season, 22 points below his career average.
- Islanders winger Zach Parise told reporters, including Newsday’s Andrew Gross, that he’s hoping to return to the team next season. The 37-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent and with a base cap hit of just $750K, he’s someone that could be moved to a contender looking for extra forward depth. After a quiet start to the season, Parise has improved offensively in recent weeks, collecting a dozen points in 21 games since the start of February.
- Capitals winger T.J. Oshie was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Carolina. The team announced (Twitter link) that the veteran is dealing with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. This is now the sixth instance that has caused Oshie to miss time this season and as a result, he has been limited to just 28 games although he has managed to record 20 points.
Golden Knights Sign Isaiah Saville
7:45 PM: The Golden Knights officially announced the signing. PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the AAV of the deal is just under $850K.
6:47 PM: The Golden Knights have agreed to terms with one of their college prospects as Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports (Twitter link) that Vegas has signed goaltender Isaiah Saville to a three-year, entry-level contract. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick of the Golden Knights back in 2019 (155th overall) out of Tri-City of the USHL and has played the last three seasons with the University of Nebraska-Omaha. This season, he suited up in 30 games for the Mavericks, recording a 2.52 GAA along with a save percentage of .907 for the third straight year. His college season came to an end last week and evidently, he decided to forego his senior year.
It’s unknown if Vegas elected to burn the first year of Saville’s entry-level deal now or if it will come into effect beginning next season in which case he’d ink an amateur tryout deal with AHL Henderson for the rest of 2021-22. There could be a bit of a logjam for the Golden Knights in terms of their signed goalie depth for 2022-23 with Saville joining Logan Thompson and Jiri Patera as young netminders under contract while Dylan Ferguson is a restricted free agent.
Blackhawks Place Connor Murphy On LTIR And Tyler Johnson On IR
It has been a busy day for Chicago. After shipping Brandon Hagel along with a pair of fourth-round picks to Tampa Bay for two future top-ten protected first-rounders plus wingers Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh, the team announced that they’ve placed defenseman Connor Murphy on long-term injured reserve and center Tyler Johnson on injured reserve.
Murphy was stretchered off the ice on Saturday after taking a hit from Ottawa’s Parker Kelly and it’s no surprise that the placement has been back-dated to Saturday. He’ll have to miss at least 10 games and 24 days from there which means he wouldn’t be able to return until April 7th at the earliest. With it being a concussion and the fact that the Blackhawks are well out of playoff contention, it’s possible that they simply shut him down for the rest of the season.
Doing so would effectively allow Chicago to add all of Murphy’s $3.85MM AAV to their LTIR pool and give them that much extra room to work with by Monday’s trade deadline. With several buyers having limited cap space, a bit more flexibility for the Blackhawks to work with could certainly be useful for GM Kyle Davidson.
As for Johnson, his placement is also retroactive to March 12th and with him just being on regular IR, he’s technically eligible to return as soon as Sunday against Winnipeg. However, that won’t be the case. Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago notes that Johnson only resumed skating on Thursday and while interim coach Derek King noted that the veteran will need to go through the various stages of concussion protocol, he should be able to return sooner than later.
Trade Deadline Primer: Winnipeg Jets
As we enter the middle of March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Winnipeg Jets.
A revamped back end for Winnipeg over the summer provided some cause for optimism heading into the season. After a quick exit in the second round to Montreal, the additions of Nate Schmidt and Brendan Dillon were supposed to steady the blueline and help the Jets take that next step forward. They’ve certainly helped on that front but unfortunately for them, Connor Hellebuyck has struggled and the end result is that they find themselves right in the middle heading into next week’s deadline – too close to automatically give up but too far away to realistically spend assets to try to make a run.
Record
28-23-10, 6th in the Central
Deadline Status
Toss-up
Deadline Cap Space
$669K today, $669K in full-season space (using LTIR), 0/3 retention slots used, 40/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: WPG 1st, CBJ 3rd, WPG 5th, WPG 6th, WPG 7th
2023: WPG 1st, WPG 3rd, WPG 4th, WPG 5th, WPG 6th, WPG 7th
Trade Chips
The good news for Winnipeg is that if they do decide to sell, they have two veterans at a position that will be in high demand. One of those is Andrew Copp, whose specific case we looked at in some detail over the weekend. He’s currently out with a head injury and while it’s not believed to be too serious, it could put a hold on talks for the time being. While his production has tapered off in recent weeks, he’s a two-way player that can play all three positions and do so in both offensive and defensive roles. Pretty much every contender would have a use for that type of versatile player although, with a $3.64MM AAV, not all of them will be able to afford him.
The other center that would be available if they sell is Paul Stastny. The 36-year-old has actually improved his offensive numbers from last season with 17 goals and 13 assists in 50 games, giving him his best point per game average since the 2018-19 season. Stastny has spent a lot of this season on the wing with Winnipeg having Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois on their top two lines but he was a full-time middleman as recently as last season. He’d fit in well on the third line for several contenders with an ability to move up in a pinch although his price tag of $3.75MM will take some creativity for some of them to fit the veteran onto their roster.
Nathan Beaulieu is currently on LTIR and will be out until next month but if there’s a team looking to add a bit of depth, his $1.25MM cap hit isn’t overly high and the 29-year-old has held his own on the third pairing in the past although his role has been reduced this year. The return would be minimal – a conditional draft pick based on games played at most – but there’s at least a small possibility that he’d move.
On the other side of the coin is David Gustafsson. The 21-year-old pending RFA actually cracked Winnipeg’s lineup as a 19-year-old but had a very limited role that year and in the two seasons since then, his NHL time has been extremely limited, including just two appearances this season that totaled less than five minutes of action. He has played well with AHL Manitoba with 20 points in 33 games but as someone that needs waivers next season and doesn’t appear to have the confidence of the NHL coaching staff right now, he’s someone that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff might be comfortable parting with in a smaller move if he decided to try to add a small piece to try to help get the Jets into the second Wild Card spot.
Then there are the blank spots on their roster. Only one team (Seattle) has fewer players signed to NHL contracts and there are a dozen teams that are three or less away from the limit of 50. Winnipeg is in a position where they could add some extra AHL depth and perhaps a late draft pick to take a contract from one of those teams that has to free up a slot to make a move. It wouldn’t be worth much but the empty slots effectively are a trade chip for the Jets.
Others To Watch For: D Tyrel Bauer (unsigned prospect), F C.J. Suess ($725K, UFA)
Team Needs
1) Draft Picks – If Winnipeg sells, they need to stock up on picks. They haven’t had a full set of draft choices since 2017 and have had just four selections in each of the last two seasons. At the moment, they only have two choices in the first 140 spots which is hardly ideal.
2) Depth Forward Upgrades – As a result of keeping their top forwards intact from last year and adding to their back end, Cheveldayoff had to go really cheap at the bottom of the depth chart. The results haven’t been great for the most part. They need low-cost improvements both now and in the long term, making this a team need that needs to be addressed regardless of which direction they ultimately wind up taking over the next few days. While there are other needs to fill, it’s unlikely they’ll be addressed here with the Jets either selling or basically standing pat
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Panthers Acquire Ben Chiarot
The Panthers have added to their back end, acquiring Ben Chiarot from the Canadiens in exchange for their 2023 first-round pick, a 2022 fourth-round selection (acquired in today’s Frank Vatrano trade), and prospect center Ty Smilanic. Montreal will retain 50% of Chiarot’s $3.5MM AAV as part of the deal. Florida GM Bill Zito released the following statement about his newest rearguard:
Ben is a solid veteran defenseman that will bring both experience and size to our blue line. Having reached the Stanley Cup Final with Montreal last season, he is a player that knows what it takes to make a deep playoff run, which is what our organization is striving for in these next few months.
The 30-year-old blueliner has worked his way up from being a role player in Winnipeg to a key part of Montreal’s back end, logging at least 21:47 a night in each of his three seasons with the Canadiens. His offensive numbers aren’t overly exciting – just seven goals and 11 assists in 54 games – but he is better known for his physicality and defensive game, elements that the Panthers certainly covet as they load up for what they hope will be a lengthy playoff run.
It’s Chiarot’s performance in the playoffs last season that had him on the radar for several contenders and had Montreal setting a high asking price comparable to last season’s David Savard trade. He logged more than 25 minutes a night for the Canadiens in their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final, playing a key shutdown role along the way. That’s likely the role that Florida envisions for him as a complementary partner for Aaron Ekblad on their top pairing, allowing MacKenzie Weegar to drop to the second pair. The net cap cost in this trade is still lower than Vatrano’s so Florida still has ample cap space to work with to try to make another addition before Monday’s trade deadline.
It should come as no surprise that Chiarot was traded with Montreal well out of playoff contention and the fact the team made him a healthy scratch against Arizona on Tuesday for what was termed a managerial decision. They managed to add three future assets including the first-round pick they were coveting. Worth noting is that while there is no condition on Florida’s 2023 first-rounder, the deal could technically change if Florida was to somehow fall out of the playoffs and land a top-ten pick this year. In that case, this 2023 pick would be conveyed to Buffalo from the Sam Reinhart trade. Of course, that’s extremely unlikely to happen. The Canadiens will also assume the conditions on the fourth-rounder from the Vatrano deal and will receive the lowest-rated of the fourth-round selections the Rangers have – their own and Winnipeg’s.
As for Smilanic, the 20-year-old was a third-round selection (74th overall) back in 2020. He has played in 38 games with Quinnipiac of the NCAA this season, picking up 13 goals and nine assists. He was also selected to USA’s entry into the since-postponed World Juniors. Montreal has until August 15, 2024 to sign him to an entry-level deal.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report that Chiarot was being traded to Montreal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Flames Acquire Calle Jarnkrok
Last month, the Flames made an important addition on the wing with the acquisition of Tyler Toffoli from Montreal. They’ve now added another winger as they have acquired winger Calle Jarnkrok from Seattle. In exchange, the Kraken receive Florida’s second-round pick in 2022, Calgary’s third-rounder in 2023, and a 2024 seventh-round selection.
The 30-year-old was the Kraken’s selection from Nashville in expansion and he has been his usual dependable two-way self this season. He has played in 49 games for Seattle this season, picking up 12 goals and 14 assists while logging just shy of 17 minutes per game. He has seen regular action on both the penalty kill and power play this season, giving him some versatility in terms of where head coach Darryl Sutter will be able to deploy him.
It’s notable that Jarnkrok has played at center in the past although he has predominantly been on the wing the last three seasons. It’s possible that Calgary could opt to deploy him there in which case he’d likely be upgrading their fourth line as it’s unlikely he’d displace Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund, or Sean Monahan from their current roles.
Jarnkrok is in the final season of a six-year, $12MM contract and will become an unrestricted free agent in July. The Flames didn’t currently have enough cap space to absorb his $2MM AAV – they have just $769K in space at the moment per CapFriendly – but Seattle hadn’t used any of their three retention slots before this deal. That, coupled with Adam Ruzicka being waiver-exempt and eligible to be sent back to AHL Stockton, gives them enough cap room to make this work.
In the meantime, Seattle gets a very strong return for a rental player in Jarnkrok. With the second-rounder this year, they now have nine selections for the 2022 draft in July while the 2023 third-rounder gives them ten picks for that draft. They’re likely to look to stockpile more over the coming days with veteran blueliner Mark Giordano expected to be among those on the move by then.
TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report Jarnkrok was going to Calgary. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the draft picks going to Seattle.