Anthony DeAngelo Declined Contract Termination
This past weekend, we saw former Devils winger Nikita Gusev accept a contract termination to give him a chance to catch on somewhere else to finish the season. While rare, there could have been a second one of these this year as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the Rangers approached defenseman Anthony DeAngelo about this scenario, noting that Montreal was among the teams interested in him if he was to become an unrestricted free agent. However, the blueliner declined and will instead be bought out this summer.
DeAngelo was waived in late January after an altercation with Alexandar Georgiev and after clearing, he was assigned to the taxi squad where he has remained ever since. However, he has not been with the team since then and while they were attempting to loan him to an AHL club last month, that clearly didn’t materialize.
While it may seem odd that DeAngelo turned down a chance to play again this season, there is definitely a financial component to consider. He would have had to walk away from the remainder of his $4.3MM salary this season. It would depend on when the termination was to occur to do an exact calculation but it would have been with somewhere around 30% of the season left, which works out to roughly a $1.29MM forfeiture. On top of that, he wouldn’t have collected any of his $5.3MM salary for next season. While it appears he could have had a chance to play elsewhere, that’s still a lot of money to walk away from.
Instead, as expected, the Rangers will buy him out this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent at that time. As a 25-year-old, he’ll only be entitled to one-third of the salary over two years instead of the standard two-thirds which means he’ll collect $1.767MM while New York will incur cap charges of $383K next year and $883K in 2022-23, per CapFriendly.
Los Angeles Kings Extend Alex Iafallo
12:45pm: Iafallo is now off the market, officially signing a four-year extension. The contract will be worth $4MM per season, totaling $16MM for the Kings’ winger.
10:08am: One of the more intriguing names that has been involved in trade speculation as of late is Kings forward Alex Iafallo. A few days ago, it looked as if the two sides weren’t going to be able to agree on a contract extension but that may be changing as Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the two sides have closed the gap and are making progress on getting a new deal done.
The 27-year-old has largely gone under the radar but has been one of the top college free agent signings in recent memory. After spending his first two seasons in a middle-six role, Iafallo spent most of 2019-20 on the top line and that has continued this year. As a result, he’s averaging over 20 minutes a night for the first time in his career while picking up 11 goals and 14 assists in 39 games to be tied for third in team scoring.
Iafallo is in the final season of a two-year, $4.85MM contract and is eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer which has made today somewhat of a deadline to get a deal done as if it doesn’t happen, Los Angeles may be inclined to turn around and trade him. With his emergence as a key cog for the Kings, he’s certainly well-positioned to land a considerable raise on his $2.425MM AAV.
Senators Claim Victor Mete Off Waivers
The Senators have added some extra depth to their back end off the waiver wire as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that Ottawa has claimed Victor Mete off waivers from Montreal. This move comes off the heels of them trading Mike Reilly and Braydon Coburn late last night.
Mete has played a very limited role with the Canadiens this season, suiting up in just 14 games this season, picking up three assists while averaging a career-low 14:09 per game. It’s a sharp contrast from the beginning of his career when he spent considerable time on the top pairing with Shea Weber but he was surpassed on the depth chart by Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, and Alexander Romanov as they were brought in over the last two years. That resulted in an early-season trade request, one that was clearly not fulfilled and evidently Montreal couldn’t find a taker before waiving the 22-year-old yesterday.
With the limited role he had in the bubble, Mete opted to accept his $735K qualifying offer, making him a low-cost acquisition for Ottawa down the stretch. However, he is eligible for salary arbitration this summer and with nearly 200 career NHL games under his belt, he will have a good case for a somewhat notable raise if it was to get to a hearing despite how things have gone this season.
But that’s an issue for the summer. In the meantime, the Senators will get a free opportunity to take a closer look at Mete to see if he can be a part of their future plans. As for Montreal, they basically brought in his replacement yesterday with the acquisition of Jon Merrill from Detroit so this news won’t affect any of their other plans before today’s trade deadline.
Snapshots: Ullmark, Beaulieu, Reaves, DeAngelo
While the Sabres aren’t expected to get a contract extension in place with Linus Ullmark today, they don’t intend to move him by today’s trade deadline, reports John Wawrow of the Associated Press (Twitter link). Instead, the team remains hopeful that they’ll be able to work out a new deal with the netminder before free agency opens up this summer. Ullmark has had a pretty successful year with Buffalo despite all of their struggles, posting a 2.64 GAA along with a .917 SV% in 19 starts this season. That has him positioned to land a nice increase on his current $2.6MM salary either from the Sabres or elsewhere this summer.
Elsewhere around the league:
- The Jets have transferred Nathan Beaulieu to LTIR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The defenseman had been ruled out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery earlier this month so it was a move that could have been done at any time. The placement adds another $1.15MM to Winnipeg’s LTIR pool, giving them just under $4.8MM in full-season cap hit that can be brought in. That said, that number could drop a bit if they recall Kristian Vesalainen back up from the taxi squad later today; that would push Winnipeg’s spending room to a little under $4MM.
- Golden Knights winger Ryan Reaves won’t face any supplementary discipline for his hit on Coyotes defenseman Jordan Gross yesterday, reports David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The ruling appears to be that while there was definitely contact to the head, it was not the principal point of contact.
- The Rangers aren’t expected to find a late trade partner for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, tweets Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. The blueliner hasn’t played since clearing waivers and being dismissed from the team in early February. With another year left on his deal with a $4.8MM AAV (and a $5.3MM salary), he’s pretty much a lock to be bought out this summer.
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 04/12/21
There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season and with players needing to be on an AHL roster or NHL taxi squad once the trade deadline passes, there may even be more than usual today. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day:
North Division
- The Maple Leafs announced that they have recalled Nick Robertson and Timothy Liljegren from Toronto of the AHL to the taxi squad. Liljegren has been up and down this season but hasn’t seen any NHL action while getting into 11 minor league contests. Robertson was injured in his regular season debut with the Leafs and has ten points in 14 games with the Marlies after being cleared to return.
- The Senators announced the recall of Alex Formenton from the taxi squad, an expected move after sending him down yesterday. Formenton was initially brought up late last month and has three goals in eight games this season. Ottawa has also activated Colin White from injured reserve.
Central Division
- The Blue Jackets have made several roster moves. Per a team release, Ryan MacInnis, Kole Sherwood, and Andrew Peeke were recalled from the taxi squad. Coming up from AHL Cleveland to the taxi squad are Nathan Gerbe, Adam Clendening, and Josh Dunne.
- The Hurricanes have recalled Joakim Ryan to the taxi squad from AHL Chicago, according to the AHL’s transactions log. The blueliner has played in just four minor league contests this season and hasn’t suited up yet with Carolina.
- The Lightning announced that Alex Barre-Boulet and Mitchell Stephens have been recalled from their respective conditioning stints with AHL Syracuse. Defenseman Andreas Borgman has been reassigned to the Crunch in a corresponding move.
West Division
- The Los Angeles Kings have activated Olli Maata from the injured reserve. To create space on the blue line, they have reassigned fellow defenseman Austin Strand to the taxi squad.
- Tomas Jurco is on his way back to the NHL, recalled directly from the AHL to the active roster of the Vegas Golden Knights. Jurco has only played in one game up with Vegas so far this year, but has seven points in 17 games with the Henderson Silver Knights.
East Division
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Morning Notes: Dunn, Gudbranson, Garland
For most of the season, Blues defenseman Vince Dunn has been available and despite their hot stretch as of late, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that St. Louis has kept him on the block. Carolina had interest in him earlier in the season and it doesn’t appear as if that has changed according to Rutherford. The 24-year-old has had a bit of a bounce-back season with five goals and 12 assists in 39 games which will certainly bolster his case heading into restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility for the first time. Depending on whether or not they intend to protect Justin Faulk in expansion, Dunn could be the odd one out at that time so if they get the right trade fit now, it may make sense to move him on despite being in the playoff hunt.
Other notes from around the NHL this morning:
- There is strong interest in Senators defenseman Erik Gudbranson, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has just three points in 36 games this season but can still bring some physicality and shot blocking to a third pairing. One possible issue is his $4MM AAV which is on the pricey side for a depth defender although Ottawa can retain up to half of that and will likely need to do so. Gudbranson will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
- Teams are calling about Coyotes winger Conor Garland, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 25-year-old is second on Arizona in scoring with 10 goals and 21 assists in 41 games but last month, it was reported that they were open to the idea of moving him. Garland only makes $775K this season but will be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility this summer and is poised to land a significant raise.
Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire Jeff Carter
6:55 am: Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic provides details on the conditional third-rounder. It can be upgraded to a second-round selection if the Penguins made the Stanley Cup Final and Carter plays in at least half of their games.
12:45 am: The trade has been made official. The Kings will receive a conditional 2022 third-round pick and a conditional 2023 fourth-round pick, while retaining 50% of Carter’s remaining contract. The conditions on the draft picks have not yet been announced.
While two draft picks are nice to get, part of the win here for the Kings is getting out from at least part of Carter’s contract. The team desperately wants to get younger and provide roster spots for some of their up-and-coming talent, so clearing Carter off the books—even if it doesn’t scrub his contract completely and comes with some recapture risk—was something of a necessity. The veteran forward’s career in Los Angeles comes to an end after 580 games and two Stanley Cup championships.
9:35 pm: The Penguins and Kings have held discussions regarding a trade that would send center Jeff Carter to Pittsburgh, reports TSN’s Bob McKenzie (Twitter link). In follow-up tweets, McKenzie reported that Los Angeles players were saying their goodbyes to the veteran with the Kings expected to receive a couple of conditional draft picks from Pittsburgh while retaining some salary.
When the trade call goes through as planned, the Penguins will be receiving a player that new GM Ron Hextall is very familiar with. Not only was Hextall the Philadelphia Flyers’ director of player personnel when Carter was selected in 2003 and made his NHL debut during the 2005-06 season, but Hextall was the assistant general manager of the Kings when they traded for the center in 2012.
The player the Kings acquired back then was a big-bodied center that could routinely put up 25-30 goals while playing strong defense. The one they’re getting today isn’t quite at that level, but certainly adds a lot of experience to the position. Now 36, Carter has over 1,000 regular season games played in the NHL, 120 more in the postseason, two Stanley Cup championships, and an Olympic gold medal. He just so happened to be teammates with Sidney Crosby on that gold medal-winning 2014 Olympic squad, an international duo that goes back to the 2005 World Junior squad that is considered one of the best of all time.
Now, Carter will get to slide in behind Crosby on the depth chart and give the Penguins another talented forward to challenge for the Stanley Cup once again. After winning again tonight, the Penguins are now 27-13-2 on the season and sit just two points behind the tied Washington Capitals and New York Islanders for the division lead. An 8-2 run in their last two has proven that the Penguins deserved a little boost at the trade deadline, and the veteran Carter is just that.
Still, it’s important to remember that Carter has just nine goals and 19 points this season and is still under contract through 2021-22. His current cap hit is $5.27MM, but depending on how much the Kings have retained, that number could come down to something much more palatable. In actual salary, Carter is owed just $2MM this season and next.
That discrepancy between salary and cap hit is exactly why trading Carter has been so tricky in the past. As PuckPedia points out, if the veteran forward decided to retire after this season, both the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Kings would be hit with a recapture penalty. If Los Angeles retained 50% in this trade and Carter decides to hang up his skates after this season, the Kings would face a $3.1MM recapture penalty in 2021-22 (the Blue Jackets would have a $551K penalty regardless of the retention in this deal).
Interestingly, that route would actually give the Penguins a cap bonus for next season ($381K if 50% retained), meaning they have no risk in that regard. The idea behind recapture is that in the early years of the 11- year contract (which is no longer allowed under the new CBA), Carter was earning much more salary than his cap hit represented. In the case of early retirement, the recapture process is meant to even out that early reward by penalizing the team(s) that received it.
More to follow.
Islanders Acquire Braydon Coburn
The Islanders have brought in another veteran for the stretch run, acquiring defenseman Braydon Coburn from the Senators in exchange for a 2022 seventh-round draft pick. Both teams have confirmed the move.
The 36-year-old was moved to Ottawa just before the season started in a trade from Tampa Bay that was designed to maximize their LTIR potential with the Sens picking up Cedric Paquette (who was dealt to Carolina soon after) plus a second-round pick for their troubles. However, as a veteran on his last legs, Coburn wasn’t a great fit for the Senators who waived him in early February but couldn’t find a taker at that time. On that front, getting a pick, even a late one, two months later is a worthwhile move.
Despite spending a lot of time on the taxi squad, Coburn has gotten into 16 games this season while logging 16:26 per night. Having said that, he should get used to being back in a reserve role as the Islanders aren’t bringing him in to be a regular player as he slots in no higher than seventh on the depth chart. However, as someone with plenty of postseason experience – he has 137 career playoff contests under his belt – Coburn gives them someone that has been there before and can step in if injuries strike. He won his first career Stanley Cup last year with the Lightning although he only got into three games along the way.
Coburn is in the final season of a two-year, $3.4MM contract and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that there is no salary retention in the deal. As a result, the Isles now have $1.55MM remaining in their LTIR pool, per CapFriendly, an amount they can spend if needed with both Anders Lee and Johnny Boychuk out for the season.
Maple Leafs Acquire David Rittich
The Toronto Maple Leafs have added some goaltending depth to the fold, acquiring David Rittich from the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 2022 third-round pick. Both teams have confirmed the move. The Flames will be retaining 50% of what remains on Rittich’s $2.75MM cap hit.
Toronto already swung a deal for Nick Foligno earlier today, meaning it’s quite the active Sunday for GM Kyle Dubas. He’s now bolstered his forward depth (the team also acquired injured center Riley Nash recently) and has added a goaltender to help out what has become an unclear situation in the Maple Leafs crease.
Frederik Andersen, who started the season as the team’s no-doubt starter has struggled all season and is now dealing with a mysterious injury. He hasn’t played since March 19 and in his absence, Jack Campbell has put his name forward as the team’s better option. The 29-year-old Campbell is 11-0 so far on the season and has posted a .934 save percentage, giving the Maple Leafs steller goaltending on a nightly basis. With his injury history though, Toronto was in a precarious spot that could have forced Michael Hutchinson back into the crease.
With Rittich, the team is bringing in an experienced veteran, but one that has had a rocky season of his own. The 28-year-old goaltender is sitting on a .904 save percentage with the Flames so far, which actually isn’t all that much worse than the .907 he put up last season. Perhaps Dubas is hoping for the goaltender who he has seen dominate in person, as Rittich holds a .929 in seven career appearances against the Maple Leafs.
While Rittich doesn’t have much of a chance to unseat Campbell at this point, he does offer some extra depth for a Toronto team that is hoping to go on a long postseason run. What this means for Andersen’s health isn’t clear, but the team seems to be using up the extra cap space provided by moving him to long-term injured reserve. That would suggest he won’t’ be back before the end of the regular season, but at this point, nothing has been announced.
For the Flames, adding a third-round pick for the expiring contract of Rittich is a pretty substantial win, even if they did need to retain salary to do it. The team has their starter in Jacob Markstrom locked up and a capable backup already in Louis Domingue who has been recalled from the taxi squad with Artyom Zaigidulin being promoted to the taxi squad from AHL Stockton. Though they’re not exactly out of the playoff race, the idea of this Flames team competing for the Stanley Cup is a distant one.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Bruins Acquire Mike Reilly
The Bruins have added some depth to their back end as they’ve acquired Mike Reilly from Ottawa in exchange for a 2022 third-round draft pick. Both teams have announced the trade.
Reilly was highly coveted coming out of college after opting to not sign with Columbus who drafted him back in the fourth round in 2011. However, he never really established himself as a regular with Minnesota who signed him in free agency and things didn’t change after he was flipped to Montreal in 2018. That resulted in Ottawa picking him up for a fifth-rounder last season and while he still isn’t quite established yet as a key piece, he has taken some steps towards that.
This season, the 27-year-old has played in 40 games and while he has yet to score a goal, he has a career-best 19 assists, one behind Thomas Chabot for the team lead while the 19 points are also a career high. That performance was enough to get Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion to try to work out a short-term contract extension this weekend, per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, but those talks clearly didn’t result in a new deal although they were able to get a two-round upgrade on what they paid to get him a year ago which is still nice.
As for Boston, they have been hit hard by the injury bug this season with Charlie McAvoy, John Moore, Brandon Carlo, and Matt Grzelcyk all currently out of the lineup with Kevan Miller requiring some rest after missing all of last season so there was a clear need for depth. They also didn’t replace Torey Krug when he left for St. Louis in free agency so Reilly’s playmaking will certainly be beneficial. A good showing with Boston would certainly bolster his value heading into the open market but could also create an opportunity for him to stick around.
Reilly is a pending unrestricted free agent with a $1.5MM salary and cap hit which still leaves GM Don Sweeney some space to work with before Monday’s trade deadline. They could still stand to add defensive depth in light of the injuries but they could also turn to try to add up front and add some secondary scoring, an element they’ve frequently coveted in recent deadlines.
Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette was the first to report the trade.