Pacific Notes: Hill, Ducks, Flames, Oilers
Sharks goaltender Adin Hill returned to the lineup on Saturday and recorded a 29-save shutout over Los Angeles. However, it appears he hasn’t fully recovered from the lower-body injury that kept him out for 15 games as Corey Masisak of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the netminder has suffered a setback and will be out for at least a week. The team isn’t considering shutting him down for the season at this point and surgery isn’t on the table at this time so fortunately for San Jose, it would appear the setback is a minor one. James Reimer and Zachary Sawchenko will serve as the goalie tandem for the Sharks for the time being.
More from the Pacific:
- While the Ducks recently traded Josh Manson, it’s too early to automatically assume that fellow pending unrestricted free agents Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell will have the same fate. GM Pat Verbeek told reporters, including Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register, that the door hasn’t been closed yet on signing the veterans to extensions. Verbeek recently indicated that they’d be traded if there wasn’t a new contract in place by then so it’s certainly getting close to the pressure point for Anaheim.
- Sportsnet’s Eric Francis pegs Calgary’s biggest need to fill as a depth center. The Flames have used Brad Richardson and Adam Ruzicka as fourth line middlemen this season and haven’t had much production from them as the duo has combined for 13 points in 50 games. An upgrade at that position wouldn’t normally seem like a top priority but with minimal cap space, it’s one they could realistically afford without requiring significant retention or needing to move someone off their current roster.
- In an appearance on 630 CHED (audio link), Oilers GM Ken Holland indicated that forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is still a couple of weeks away from returning to the lineup from his shoulder injury. He also stated that he’d ideally like to add to Edmonton’s defense corps by the trade deadline. Cap space is limited for them – less than $600K at the moment per CapFriendly – so unless they’re able to clear up some room, that addition to the back end may need to be a depth one.
Five Key Stories: 3/7/22 – 3/13/22
The trade market continues to be quiet with the deadline just over a week away but there was still some notable news on the transaction front which is highlighted in our key stories of the week.
Ristolainen’s Sticking Around: One of the more prominent potential unrestricted free agent defensemen is off the market as Rasmus Ristolainen signed a five-year, $25.5MM contract extension with the Flyers. The 27-year-old continues to be one of the more polarizing rearguards around the league. Philadelphia paid a significant price to get him at the draft including a first-round pick but his underlying metrics have never been good. Nevertheless, GM Chuck Fletcher clearly values Ristolainen to make this type of commitment to him, one that actually represents a small dip in pay compared to his current $5.4MM AAV.
Subban Won’t Be Sticking Around: The Devils have informed veteran defenseman P.K. Subban that they will not be retaining him beyond this season. The 32-year-old is in the final season of an eight-year, $72MM contract that at the time, made him the highest-paid defender in the NHL. However, his numbers have tapered off in recent seasons and he has just 18 points in 56 games this season. As a result of the decision to move on from him, New Jersey will likely try to find a taker for Subban’s services but since they can only retain $4.5MM of his AAV, that may be tricky to do and may require a third team to get involved to hold back another chunk. Either way, Subban will be hitting the open market in July.
Good And Bad News For Dallas: Joe Pavelski has certainly impressed since joining Dallas three years ago and is on pace for a career year at the age of 37 as he has 23 goals and 37 assists in 57 games. He decided he likes playing for the Stars and opted to turn down a shot at testing the open market, instead signing a one-year extension. The deal is worth a guaranteed $5.5MM with an extra $500K in games played bonuses – $100K for every ten games played up to 50. It’s a small decrease compared to the $7MM he’s making now while the bonus structure gives Dallas a bit of extra cap flexibility for next season since those can be rolled over to 2023-24 if needed. Unfortunately for the Stars, the news wasn’t all good as blueliner Miro Heiskanen is out indefinitely due to a bout with mononucleosis.
Another Injury For Fabbri: Red Wings winger Robby Fabbri has had some tough luck when it comes to knee injuries over the years and it looks like he will be dealing with another one as he is believed to have suffered a torn ACL. If that’s the case, his season will be over and he’ll be questionable for the start of training camp. Fabbri has done well to establish himself in Detroit and has been one of their more consistent secondary scorers. He has 30 points in 56 games this season and his performance was good enough for the team to give him a three-year, $12MM extension back in December.
McCann Gets Paid: Over the past few years, Kraken center Jared McCann had shown flashes of offensive upside but wasn’t able to put it together with any sort of consistency. The opportunity to play big minutes with regularity in Seattle has helped him to realize some of that potential and for that, he was rewarded with a five-year, $25MM extension. The deal contains a 10-team no-trade clause in the last four seasons of the deal, the only ones eligible for trade protection as the first year of the contract is an RFA-eligible one. The 25-year-old leads Seattle in goals with 23 and is tied for the lead in points with 35 in 53 games this season.
Trade Candidate: Andrew Copp
The trade deadline is now just over a week away as we continue our look at some of the players who have a good chance of being on the move between now and March 21st.
Andrew Copp has fairly quietly but steadily improved over the past several seasons and has worked his way up from being an energy player on the fourth line to a reliable checker to a quality two-way center that plays big minutes in all facets of the game. As a result, if Winnipeg decides that they’re going to sell, Copp will be one of the most sought-after players around the league in the days to come.
Contract
Copp is on a one-year, $3.64MM contract that was agreed on prior to his arbitration hearing in August and thus contains no form of trade protection. The deal is all salary and he will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
2021-22
Copp has been somewhat of a Swiss army knife for Winnipeg this season. Injuries to Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers opened up spots on the wing that Copp filled at times. He has spent most of the year playing down the middle but even with a fully healthy lineup (including Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois at center), Copp has logged heavy minutes and is third among all Winnipeg forwards in ice time behind only Kyle Connor and Scheifele.
Unsurprisingly, the 27-year-old has seen plenty of action on special teams. He leads all Jets forwards in shorthanded ice time per game and plays almost the same amount of time on the power play, making him their only player to average at least 2:30 per contest in both situations.
The end result is that Copp is on pace to set career highs across the board (he’s already there in shots on goals). On top of that, he’s winning over 53% of his draws and we know how much teams value situational faceoff performance in the playoffs.
However, it’s worth noting that his production has tapered off a little bit as of late with five points in his last 16 games while half of his full-season point total came in the first 15 games of the year. That shouldn’t hurt his market too much but interested teams will be factoring that into their offers.
Season Stats
53 GP, 13 goals, 19 assists, 32 points, even rating, 8 PIMS, 147 shots, 20:05 TOI, 52.9 CF%, 53.8% faceoffs
Potential Suitors
Basically, any contending team with some cap space will have interest in Copp if he’s made available. Winnipeg could retain to facilitate a deal although they’re close to being capped out so there may be a limitation to how much they can hold back or who they can take on to offset part of the contract.
In the East, the Bruins never really filled the hole created by David Krejci’s departure and have been looking to fill a top-six hole all season. Copp fits the bill on both ends and they have the cap space to afford him outright. So do the Rangers who could either slot him in on the wing in the top six or have him anchor a new-look third line that can take some pressure off the top lines. The Maple Leafs have been linked to some wingers and Copp would be a good complementary piece on the wing on their second line although making the money work would be a challenge with Jake Muzzin set to return later this season. The Capitals have been looking around at checking wingers and while Copp is rated a little higher, he’s someone they’d have interest in although again, the cap looms large on that front. The Panthers may covet Copp’s faceoff prowess to help offset Sam Bennett’s struggles on the draw if they aren’t able to add a significant piece on the back end.
Out West, the Wild stand out as a strong fit. They’re stuck shopping for expiring contracts with the buyout charges increasing next season for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter and could certainly use some improvements down the middle. The Avalanche have good depth at center already but could use Copp on the wing or in a shutdown capacity. It’d also be an opportunity to evaluate if he could be a serviceable replacement for Nazem Kadri if Kadri prices himself out of what Colorado can afford over the offseason. The Flames would have some cap challenges to overcome and would need to use him on the wing but he certainly fits Calgary’s playing style. If the Predators opt to try to make a bigger addition, Copp is someone that would fit in a role that’s similar to one he plays with Winnipeg, splitting time at center and the wing.
Likelihood Of A Trade
A lot will depend on how Winnipeg fares in this next week. If they can close the gap on a Wild Card spot, they may hold onto Copp in the hopes of sneaking into the postseason. However, if that doesn’t happen and a contract extension isn’t in the cards, there’s a very good chance that Copp will be on a different roster once the clock passes 2 PM CT on March 21st.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
PHR Mailbag: Sabres, Islanders, Husso, Jets, Samsonov, Detroit’s Defense, Pacific Predictions, Projections, Avalanche
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Ville Husso’s future with St. Louis, whether or not it’s time for Winnipeg to shake up their core, building up Detroit’s back end, and much more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in last weekend’s mailbag.
@JoeBad34TD: Sabres: It’s time to move on from Mittelstadt, Miller, Eakin, and Olofsson. Miller and Eakin are vets that may get you some later picks. Mittelstadt and Olofsson are young but not the right fit for this team’s future. Do you see a trade market for these players and at what value?
I agree with you on the assessment of Cody Eakin and Colin Miller – both are candidates to be moved for draft picks so there’s really nothing more to say about those two.
As for the two younger players, I don’t think there’s a great market for Casey Mittelstadt right now. He has struggled since his rookie season and hasn’t been healthy all that much this year. With two more years left on his deal at $2.5MM per, Buffalo would be selling low if they moved him. They’re not in a position where they should be selling low so holding onto him is the smarter play from a valuation standpoint; it’s not as if his value can get much lower than it would be right now so why not hold onto him, make some moves to bolster the roster over the summer, and see how he fits in with the new-look team? Maybe there’s a better fit and if that doesn’t happen, maybe he produces a bit more to up his trade value.
Then there’s Victor Olofsson. I tend to agree that he’s not a great fit for Buffalo moving forward but again, they’re not exactly selling high on him either. He has struggled this year and has just 10 goals in 49 games with a $3.25MM qualifying offer looming large this summer. If they know that they don’t want to pay that, then it’s a case of taking what you can get now which might be a mid-round pick if the Sabres retain on the contract. If GM Kevyn Adams is leaning towards tendering that offer though, they might have a shot at a swap of underachieving wingers in the summer. It’s not going to be an overly exciting return, however.
Y2KAK: What are reasonable moves the Islanders make at the trade deadline?
While they won’t be able to get much for their rentals (headlined by winger Cal Clutterbuck), GM Lou Lamoriello would be wise to try to get a couple of draft picks through moving some of them. They haven’t had more than six selections over the last three years and only have five for this summer’s draft so getting closer to a full complement of picks would be a reasonable move.
I honestly don’t expect a whole lot more from them. This is a team that has been good enough to make some decent playoff runs lately so I think Lamoriello will look at this and feel that they could be back in the thick of things next season when they don’t have a massive road trip, get hit hard by positive COVID tests, and have a bunch of injuries. With that in mind, I don’t know how much he really wants to change things.
One move I could see them looking into is trading Semyon Varlamov. Ilya Sorokin is clearly their goalie of the present and while they want someone who will probably play a bit more than an average backup behind him, that player doesn’t need to cost $5MM like Varlamov does. He’s signed for next season and with the trade market being relatively thin in terms of impact goalies available, the 33-year-old could be a candidate to be moved. It might have to be in the summer but a deadline trade can’t be ruled out either.
bighiggy: With the emergence of Husso, do the Blues look to sign Husso so he doesn’t depart at the end of the season, and then try to trade Binnington? Or let Husso walk and hope Binnington plays better?
The Blues would like to keep Husso and in a perfect world, they find a way to keep both. Husso is a fascinating UFA case this summer. He’s having a great year (2.24 GAA, .928 SV% in 24 games) but he only has 41 career NHL appearances under his belt. Is that enough to land him top dollar on the open market? Probably not. But could he land something similar to Alex Nedeljkovic’s deal with Detroit – two years, $3MM AAV? That wouldn’t shock me.
Now with that estimate, can they afford to keep Husso? I think they can. If they opt to let David Perron walk in free agency and fill his spot with someone like Jake Neighbours who is still on his cheap entry-level deal, that might be enough of a shuffle in terms of allocating cap dollars to make it work if they go with low-cost pieces to round out the roster as they’re likely to do. If they don’t want to do that, then I suspect Husso would walk and Binnington would enter next season as the undisputed starter as if they can’t/won’t pay Husso in the $3MM range, they’re not getting someone that can push for the starting job for less than that. With Binnington’s struggles, it’s hard to see a viable scenario where he leaves and Husso becomes the starter.
selanne76: Should the Jets make a move to shake up their leadership group? If so, who goes where and what should be the return?
I have to admit, I really like Winnipeg’s core group. It’s a good mix of veterans and younger players and they’re all capable of scoring. Breaking that up is risky. But this core has been together for a while and hasn’t gotten it done in terms of playoff success and even getting to the postseason this year is going to be tough.
Personally, I’d give them one more opportunity next season. Andrew Copp probably won’t be back and if Paul Stastny departs as well, that gives the Jets some money to work with to reshape the bottom six. I’d like to see their depth improved as that has been an issue this year; going with low-cost players because they make the minimum or close to it makes the cap work but puts a lot of extra pressure on that top group.
I also could see a coaching change happening. With Paul Maurice leaving midseason, they were in a tough spot and elevating Dave Lowry to the interim role was the logical choice. But if they miss the playoffs, it’s an opportunity to bring a new voice and system in; perhaps that gives them the spark they were missing.
If they decided to make a change to really shake it up, my guess would be that Nikolaj Ehlers would be the one to go. It’s hard to move Mark Scheifele when they don’t have a sure-fire replacement in the system (I like Cole Perfetti as a winger more than a center from a long-term standpoint) and Pierre-Luc Dubois isn’t a true number one and might not have the trade value he did when Winnipeg got him with now two fewer years of team control. Blake Wheeler won’t bring back much with his age and contract and Kyle Connor isn’t going anywhere.
As for what Ehlers could bring back, it’d all depend on what they’d be doing. If they were doing a rebuild, a first-rounder and a top prospect would be the key elements of a return. If it’s a core shakeup, it’d be another top-six winger that’s signed or at least under team control for as long as Ehlers is signed for (through 2024-25).
2012orioles: Even if the Capitals move Samsonov, what value does he bring being an RFA after the season?
Not as much as you might think at first glance. When was the last time a goaltender was traded in a move that made anyone think ‘wow, that’s a big price to pay’? It doesn’t happen very often and with the year he’s having, he’s probably not going to buck the trend.
I think Ilya Samsonov can be a starter in the NHL or at least a 1A part of a platoon. He’s not going to be able to command that type of return with a save percentage that’s just above .900 though, nor is he going to be able to land the type of contract that’s commensurate with that level of a player (high-$3MM range for a 1A, considerably more for a starter) this summer. Another one-year, prove it type of deal is probably coming.
That actually hurts Samsonov’s trade value a little bit in my eyes. He has two years of team control left but a one-year deal this summer takes him to a spot where he can opt for arbitration next summer and head to unrestricted free agency in his prime. The Rangers will likely be moving Alexandar Georgiev for cap reasons this summer, another pending RFA who has had similar hot and cold spells in the NHL and that also doesn’t help Washington’s cause.
When I first saw this question, the word that immediately came to mind in terms of value was underwhelming. Regardless of whether it’s a futures-based trade or he’s moved for a veteran, any return for Samsonov (if he winds up being traded) is going to yield an underwhelming return.
Detroit_SP: How do the Red Wings address the left side of the defense? They have given up over 6 GAA in the recent stretch and it’s mostly due to left side deficiencies (Leddy, DeKeyser, etc.)
I don’t see a lot of top two D-men in FA that fit with the Red Wings timeline.
Can they swing for Chychrun without giving up Seider, Edvinsson, or Raymond? I imagine Berggren would be going the other way, as unfortunate as that would be. Combination involving him and then from Wallinder, Sebrango, McIsaac, Johannson, Mazur, picks? I’d prefer to avoid 2023 picks given the draft prowess projected.
Target a different defender with term remaining?
Let’s talk about Chychrun first. The asking price is extremely high and Arizona has no reason to trade him for anything less than a king’s ransom at this point. The price to be paid is going to hurt so no, a package headlined by a 2018 second-round pick in winger Jonatan Berggren isn’t going to work. I don’t think they’d need to move Moritz Seider or Lucas Raymond but I imagine the Coyotes would be insisting on Simon Edvinsson as part of the deal and then adding pieces (including Berggren potentially) from there.
I don’t think this is the right time for them to try to fill a top-two spot on the back end. Detroit isn’t about to jump from missing the playoffs for the sixth year in a row to a contender overnight. GM Steve Yzerman is all about building slowly so it stands to reason that the shift towards being a playoff-bound team is going to be gradual, not dramatic. It wouldn’t be shocking to see them give Edvinsson some NHL time next season (he’s signed with Frolunda but as he was a first-round pick, Detroit can supersede that contract).
Out of the pending free agents, Hampus Lindholm is one that would really fit well for the Red Wings if they wanted to make a big splash and while he’s not a big point-getter, he’s a legitimate top-pairing player. That’s why Anaheim wants to re-sign him and why the trade market for rental defenders is basically at a standstill at this point. I wouldn’t be shocked if Marc Staal returns either while another depth piece can be added as well through free agency.
Could Yzerman trade his way towards filling some of those holes? Sure. But why move those assets out in what will probably be a transitional year as they look to get back into the playoff picture? Add some pieces in free agency, get a little better, assess where things stand, and then use some picks and prospects as trade currency to add when they’re more ready to go for it. As a patient GM with both Tampa Bay and now Detroit, that’s the route I expect him to take.
Canadiens’ Cedric Paquette Clears Waivers
March 13: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Paquette cleared waivers today. After going unclaimed, Montreal can now assign him to the Laval Rocket.
March 12: It has been a tough season for Canadiens center Cedric Paquette. He has struggled to stay healthy and when he has been in the lineup, things haven’t gone much better. As a result, Montreal has placed Paquette on waivers, as first reported by TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link).
The 28-year-old signed with Montreal in the summer, inking a one-year, $950K deal with an eye on him playing a regular role on the fourth line and penalty kill. However, he has wound up playing in just 24 games this season, recording two assists while logging less than nine minutes a night in ice time. That production is largely in line with last season when he managed just eight points in 48 games between Ottawa and Carolina where he was in and out of the lineup.
Paquette is a veteran of over 400 NHL regular season games and has 95 career playoff contests under his belt so there’s a small chance a team might want him for depth for the postseason. More likely is that he’ll go unclaimed on Sunday and be sent to AHL Laval where his entire cap hit would come off Montreal’s books.
Gabriel Landeskog To Undergo Surgery, Samuel Girard To Miss A Month
While the Avalanche had some good news today when they extended Pavel Francouz, they also got some bad news as they will be without two key players for the next little while. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Gabriel Landeskog is set to undergo knee surgery on Monday. There is no firm timetable for his return but Colorado hopes to have him back for the stretch run which would take any thought of putting him on LTIR for the rest of the regular season to open up cap space off the table.
This isn’t a newly-suffered injury for Landeskog as he played in nearly 19 minutes on Thursday against Carolina before receiving a misconduct penalty in the dying seconds of regulation. Instead, head coach Jared Bednar indicated that this is an issue that has been nagging him for a little bit and they’ve decided to get it fixed before the playoffs. The knee problem hasn’t really held Landeskog back, however, as he has 30 goals and 29 assists in 51 games this season, good for fifth in team scoring.
Meanwhile, Peter Baugh of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that blueliner Samuel Girard will miss the next four weeks with a lower-body injury. While that makes him LTIR-eligible as well, that’s a recovery timeline that would easily have him back by the end of the season so Colorado, who doesn’t have a lot of cap space to work with at the upcoming trade deadline, won’t get much help on that front either.
Girard’s numbers are down slightly this season although he has still managed to pick up 27 points in 56 games while logging nearly 22 minutes a night. Kurtis MacDermid took Girard’s place in the lineup on Thursday and with the Avs having seven other blueliners on the active roster, they shouldn’t need to recall anyone from AHL Colorado to take his place on the roster. Such a move will likely need to be made for Landeskog, however, unless they decide to shift MacDermid to the wing and put Jack Johnson back in on defense. Either way, lineup changes are coming in advance of their game tomorrow against Calgary.
Meanwhile, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post relays that blueliner Bowen Byram participated in his first full practice today in more than two months. He has been dealing with post-concussion symptoms so the Avs will undoubtedly be cautious when it comes to working the 20-year-old back into the lineup but if he’s able to return soon, he’d certainly help absorb the blow of Girard’s absence.
Avalanche Sign Pavel Francouz To A Two-Year Extension
Colorado entered the season with both of their goaltenders slated to hit unrestricted free agency in the summer. That’s no longer the case as the team announced that Pavel Francouz has signed a two-year extension. Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries a $2MM AAV. GM Joe Sakic released the following statement on the signing:
Pavel is an important component to our goaltending tandem and someone we have full trust in to be a key piece of our team going forward. He has showed tremendous perseverance and dedication in overcoming the challenges and injuries he has faced.
Speaking of those challenges and injuries, the 31-year-old missed all of last season after undergoing double hip surgery and then missed the first 24 games of this season with an ankle injury. However, since returning, Francouz has done quite well, posting a 2.46 GAA along with a .921 SV% in 14 appearances (11 starts).
Francouz still has a limited track record in North America having only signed with Colorado in 2018; he has just 50 career NHL regular season contests under his belt including those appearances this season. That, coupled with his injury history, didn’t give him a lot of leverage when it came to his next contract which almost certainly played a role in him deciding to re-sign with the Avalanche for the same price tag as his current deal, a two-year, $4MM pact that was set to expire in July. His career numbers are close to his 2021-22 ones with a .923 SV% and a 2.42 GAA and if he’s able to maintain that and stay healthy, this has the potential to be quite a bargain for Colorado.
The deal allows Colorado to now shift their focus to starter Darcy Kuemper. Sakic paid a high price tag to acquire him from the Coyotes after Philipp Grubauer left for Seattle in free agency. His cap hit this season is $4.5MM (split between Colorado and Arizona) and it will cost more than that either to keep the 31-year-old or replace him with a new starter this summer. At least Sakic can now go into those discussions knowing that at least part of Colorado’s goaltending tandem will be intact for next season with Francouz’s deal now finalized.
Senators Give Victor Mete Permission To Seek A Trade
Senators defenseman Victor Mete has been a healthy scratch somewhat routinely as of late and as a result, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the team has given his agent Darren Ferris permission to speak to teams in an effort to facilitate a trade.
The 23-year-old was claimed off waivers from Montreal near the trade deadline last season and played a largely regular role for them down the stretch. That paved the way for the Sens to avoid arbitration with Mete as they agreed to a one-year, $1.2MM contract back in August.
However, things haven’t gone as well this year. Outside of a four-game stint in COVID protocol, Mete has been healthy all season but has played in just 31 of 57 games in 2021-22. When he has been in the lineup, he has basically been entrenched as a sixth defenseman and accordingly, his 14:56 ATOI is a career low. With a $1.2MM qualifying offer owed with salary arbitration eligibility again this summer, Mete currently stands as a possible non-tender candidate.
Despite his struggles, Dreger reports that there is some interest in Mete’s services, likely in the form of a draft pick coming the other way. If Ottawa was willing to retain half of his contract, that would lower the AAV for an acquiring team to just $600K or less than the league minimum. For cap-strapped teams wanting to add some low-cost depth, such a move would certainly make sense if Ferris is able to help facilitate a move between now and the March 21st trade deadline.
Atlantic Notes: Toronto’s Goaltending, Batherson, Pinto, Allen, Grzelcyk
To say Toronto’s goaltending has struggled as of late would be an understatement. Now, Jack Campbell is on injured reserve and Petr Mrazek didn’t exactly fare any better in his first game as the short-term starter. However, Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun cautions that the Maple Leafs making a trade for a goalie wouldn’t necessarily be worth doing. Most of the goaltenders that are believed to be available aren’t sure-fire upgrades over Campbell and Mrazek and it’s quite possible that Campbell would still be the starter for the playoffs. Considering that Toronto has limited cap space to work with (since Jake Muzzin is expected to return before the season ends), would that be better off being used on a player who will play in every game over one that would more or less be a short-term goalie stopgap that isn’t necessarily an improvement over their current options?
More from the Atlantic:
- Although Senators winger Drake Batherson has returned to practice, he won’t play in Ottawa’s current five-game homestand, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 23-year-old has averaged over a point per game this season with 34 points in 31 games but hasn’t played since late January when he suffered a high ankle sprain. Meanwhile, Ottawa expects to find out in the next couple of weeks if center Shane Pinto will be able to return at some point this season. The rookie was expected to be a big part of their lineup this season but a shoulder injury has limited him to just five games so far.
- While Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen has resumed skating, he won’t suit up in either of Montreal’s games this weekend, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 31-year-old is having a tough year like many are in Montreal and has a .901 SV% in 24 starts this season but has come up as a speculative trade candidate if he’s able to show that he has fully recovered from the lower-body injury that has kept him out for the last two months and get into game action before the March 21st trade deadline.
- The Bruins announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Matt Grzelcyk will return tonight against Arizona after missing the last two games – one due to an upper-body injury and the other to illness. The 28-year-old sits second in scoring among Boston defenders with 19 points in 51 games. Jack Ahcan, who scored his first career NHL goal while taking Grzelcyk’s place in the lineup, will be a healthy scratch.
AHL Shuffle: 03/12/22
It’s another busy Saturday in the NHL with 20 teams set to play so there should be plenty of roster movement throughout the day. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
Atlantic Division
- The Red Wings announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Luke Witkowski from Grand Rapids of the AHL. The 31-year-old has seven points and 62 penalty minutes in 43 games with the Griffins. He has been used on the wing in his last few NHL stints and with Robby Fabbri (injury) and Tyler Bertuzzi (unable to cross the border) unavailable for the next three games, it’s likely that Witkowski will have to play up front if he’s going to see his first NHL action since 2019-20.
Metropolitan Division
- The Hurricanes have sent goaltender Alex Lyon to Chicago of the AHL, per a team release. The 29-year-old has been shuffled back and forth in recent days with Frederik Andersen dealing with an undisclosed injury, one that it appears he’s ready to return from. Lyon has played in two games with Carolina this season but has spent most of the campaign with the Wolves, posting a league-leading 2.14 GAA in 23 games.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they have recalled forward Radim Zohorna from the AHL’s Scranton-Wilkes Barre Penguins, and have assigned forward Valtteri Puustinen to Scranton. This will not be Zohorna’s first trip to the NHL this season, as he already has two points in eight games, last playing for Pittsburgh back on February 10th. Despite being sent down, Pusstinen is an intriguing name for Pittsburgh. The 22-year-old, who was taken in the 7th round by Pittsburgh in 2019, made his NHL debut Friday night, tallying an assist, and has 34 points over 53 games with Scranton this season.
Central Division
- The Wild announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned defenseman Calen Addison back to Iowa of the AHL. The 21-year-old was brought up three weeks ago and got into six games with Minnesota in that stretch, averaging just under 14 minutes. However, with eight blueliners on the active roster, they’ve decided that playing top minutes in the minors makes more sense for Addison at this time.
- The Stars announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned winger Riley Tufte to Texas of the AHL while recalling goaltender Adam Scheel. Tufte has been seeing regular action on the fourth line as of late but with Braden Holtby dealing with a lower-body injury, they needed to clear a roster spot and enough cap space to bring Scheel up to serve as Jake Oettinger‘s backup tonight. Tufte makes more than their other waiver-exempt forwards so he had to be the one to go down.
Pacific Division
- The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Christian Wolanin from AHL Ontario. The 26-year-old started off the season in the NHL but has spent most of the year with the Reign where he has 11 assists in 24 games. To make room for Wolanin on the roster, the team placed winger Andreas Athanasiou on IR retroactive to March 10th.
- The Golden Knights have sent blueliner Daniil Miromanov back to Henderson of the AHL per a team announcement (Twitter link). The 24-year-old was recalled on Monday as injury insurance but hasn’t played since then. Miromanov has played in seven games with Vegas this season plus 41 with the Silver Knights where he has six goals and 24 assists.
- The Sharks have returned goaltender Alex Stalock to San Jose of the AHL, per the AHL’s transactions log. The veteran was acquired from Edmonton to serve as goalie depth with both Adin Hill and James Reimer injured. Hill is set to return tonight so Stalock will head to the Barracuda. The 34-year-old was expected to miss the entire season due to a heart condition but returned to action last month.
This post will be updated throughout the day.