Post-Deadline Transaction Restrictions
While the trade deadline has come and gone, there will still be quite a few transactions made between now and the end of the season. However, many of those have new restrictions placed on them which are as follows.
Waivers
Teams can still waive players after the trade deadline. However, if they’re claimed, the player is automatically ineligible to play for the remainder of the season. We will likely still see some waiver activity closer to the end of the year if a player who is on recall and is AHL playoff-eligible needs to clear to return to the minors.
Trades
While the term ‘trade deadline’ would imply a hard cap on trades now, that’s not the case. However, similar to players claimed on waivers post-deadline, those players are ineligible to play down the stretch. Over the next week, we will likely see a player or two traded for future considerations to add someone for their AHL team; their trade deadline is exactly one week after the NHL deadline on March 14. Rights to unsigned players will also likely be moved in the coming weeks.
Signings
A player not on an NHL reserve list that signs can play down the stretch during the regular season but is ineligible to play in the playoffs. We see this typically with college free agent signings who get into a game or two for the stretch run, but technically a player on an AHL contract can sign an NHL deal and play with that team until the playoffs.
AHL Eligibility
For a player to be assigned to the minors, that player must have been on an AHL roster at the trade deadline. Otherwise, even if the player is waiver-exempt, he is ineligible to play in the minors. An exception can be made for a player needing a conditioning loan from a long-term injury. This rule is why there were so many ‘paper transactions’, moves to put a player in the minors before the deadline to keep them eligible to play there down the stretch.
Recalls
This is the one that comes into play the most after the deadline. Teams are limited to four non-emergency recalls between now and the end of the season. Players recalled from paper transactions count against the four, so several teams will have less than four to work with immediately.
An emergency situation is created when a team has fewer than 12 healthy forwards, six healthy defensemen, or two healthy goaltenders available. In those cases, a player can be recalled under emergency conditions if the team has cap space to do so. However, when that team gets the injured player(s) back, the recalled player must return to the minors. Otherwise, his recall is converted from an emergency one to a regular one and would count against the limit of four.
Pretty much every team will still be involved in transactions of some sort over the next few weeks, but they’ll have to be mindful of these restrictions when they make them.
Islanders Activate Mike Reilly And Matt Martin
The Islanders made a pair of roster moves leading into tonight’s game against San Jose. Stefan Rosner of The Hockey News relays that defenseman Mike Reilly was activated off LTIR while winger Matt Martin was activated off injured reserve.
Reilly has been out since the beginning of November when he suffered a concussion. However, that hasn’t been what has kept him out this long. While undergoing testing as a result of the concussion, it was discovered that the 31-year-old had an undiagnosed heart defect. Fortunately, Reilly told reporters including Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link) that the issue has been corrected and there are no long-term concerns. He has been skating with the team lately but despite the activation, he’s not expected to play against the Sharks.
Reilly has played in 11 games this season and had been playing a regular role before suffering the concussion. He didn’t record a point in those outings while averaging 15:45 per game. For his career, he has 122 points in 411 appearances over parts of 10 NHL seasons.
As for Martin, he last played in mid-January and had been dealing with a lower-body injury. The 35-year-old eventually earned a contract off an extended PTO but his role has been quite limited this year when he has played. Through 24 games, he has just one assist along with 68 hits in less than eight minutes a night of ice time.
Sonny Milano Suffers Setback In Injury Recovery
Friday was a fairly quiet day for the Capitals on the trade front with their only move being the acquisition of winger Anthony Beauvillier from Pittsburgh. There’s another winger that they were hoping to get back soon but that’s no longer the case for Sonny Milano. Speaking with reporters Friday including Sammi Silber of The Hockey News, GM Chris Patrick indicated that the winger suffered a fairly significant setback in his recovery from an upper-body injury.
The 28-year-old has been out since early November and has played in just three games with Washington this season, being held off the scoresheet. However, he had been a capable depth scorer in recent years, reaching the double-digit goal mark in three straight seasons, the last two of which came with the Caps.
It looked as if Milano was well on his way toward returning as he had been skating for several months and participating in non-contact drills but Patrick noted that it’s back to the drawing board in terms of a plan for his recovery. Given how long he has been out for, his availability for the rest of the season is certainly now in question.
Milano is currently on LTIR with his $1.9MM AAV contributing to more than half of their current LTIR room which stands at $3.175MM, per PuckPedia. Washington is likely to use a good chunk of that when Ryan Leonard’s season comes to an end as it’s widely expected they’ll try to bring him in for the stretch run and playoffs so even if Milano was cleared to return before the playoffs, it’s likely they’d keep him stashed on there anyway for cap compliance purposes. Regardless, it’s fair to say that the second season of Milano’s three-year deal has not gone the way anyone would have hoped.
Metropolitan Notes: Gudbranson, Gritsyuk, Stillman
Columbus wasn’t overly active as expected leading into Friday’s trade deadline but they’re close to getting an addition on the back end. Jeff Svoboda of the Blue Jackets’ team site relays (Twitter link) that defenseman Erik Gudbranson has been fully cleared to practice. While that means he’s still probably at least a few days away from returning, his looming return will be a welcome one. Gudbranson has been out since suffering a shoulder injury in the third game of the season back in October. He was originally expected to be out until sometime in April but instead, it appears that he’ll be available to return several weeks ahead of schedule, effectively serving as a deadline addition. Once he’s activated in the coming days, Columbus will have nine blueliners on its active roster.
More from the Metropolitan Division:
- Speaking to reporters yesterday at his post-deadline press conference, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald told reporters including James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now that he’s actively trying to sign Russian forward Arseni Gritsyuk. The 23-year-old was a fifth-round pick in 2019 but has become a productive forward in the KHL, notching 38 points in 45 games this season while also missing time due to a knee injury. His deal expires on June 1st but if his club team – SKA St. Petersburg – were to release him before then at the conclusion of their regular season and playoffs, he’d be free to sign with New Jersey before then. If that were to happen early enough, Gritsyuk could conceivably burn a year of his contract right away and potentially suit up in the playoffs for the Devils.
- After assigning him to the minors yesterday upon clearing waivers, the Hurricanes announced that they’ve once again recalled Riley Stillman from AHL Chicago. Despite being promoted on numerous occasions, the 26-year-old has only played in three NHL games this season along with 20 outings with the Wolves where he has five points. Stillman is likely to continue to serve as a depth defender but with recall limits now in effect, it’s unlikely he’ll be shuffled down daily as he was earlier this season. Accordingly, while yesterday’s demotion keeps him playoff-eligible in the minors, he’ll probably have to pass through waivers again later to get back down there as he’s likely to remain on Carolina’s roster for 30 days, the threshold in which he’ll become waiver-eligible again.
Devils Recall Daniel Sprong, Assign Seamus Casey To AHL
The Devils have done some roster shuffling in advance of their game on Sunday against Philadelphia. The team announced that they’ve recalled recently-acquired winger Daniel Sprong from AHL Utica while they’ve also assigned defenseman Seamus Casey to Utica.
Sprong is joining his third NHL team of the season. He started with Vancouver after inking a one-year, $975K contract over the summer but after struggling in limited action to start the season, he was flipped to Seattle in November for future considerations. Things weren’t much better there either and in early January, he passed through waivers unclaimed and had been in the minors since.
On the season, the 27-year-old has two goals and three assists in 19 NHL outings while averaging just over 12 minutes a night. Sprong has been much more productive in the minors, however, tallying 11 goals and 14 assists in 19 games with AHL Coachella Valley. New Jersey will now get to see if that can translate to being more of a contributor for them down the stretch.
As for Casey, the team’s release indicates that his demotion came before Friday’s trade deadline, keeping him eligible to play down the stretch for the Comets. He has played in 10 games with the Devils this season and has been productive in limited minutes, notching four goals and an assist in a little under 12 minutes a night of playing time. He also has 15 points in 22 appearances with Utica and should go back to playing a prominent role for them for their stretch run as they look to try to make a late run to sneak into a playoff spot in the North Division.
Kings Sign Andre Lee To Two-Year Extension
The Kings have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents up front early. The team announced that they’ve signed winger Andre Lee to a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2026-27 season. The deal will carry an AAV of $775K, the league minimum salary.
The 24-year-old was a seventh-round pick of the Kings back in 2019, going 188th overall. He has seen his first taste of NHL action this season, getting into 19 games with Los Angeles in five different stints with the big club, making him the sixth Los Angeles pick from that draft class to reach the top level. Over that stretch, he has a goal and two assists along with 36 hits in 9:10 per night of playing time.
Lee has spent the bulk of his professional career in the minors with Ontario, one that spans parts of four seasons. In 29 games this season, the 6’5 winger has three goals and six assists, bringing his career totals to 17 and 16 respectively across 134 contests.
This is Lee’s final season of waiver exemption so he will have to either stick with the Kings in the fall after training camp or be placed on waivers to return to the Reign in 2025-26. He’s playing on a one-year, two-way contract this year and while the team release doesn’t specify the terms, it wouldn’t be surprising if this extension carries a one-way salary, giving Los Angeles some capable back-of-roster depth at the lowest price possible.
Rangers Activate Chris Kreider Off Injured Reserve
The Rangers were one of the more active teams around the trade deadline, moving out several veterans in recent days. But they’re getting one back in the lineup this afternoon against Ottawa as Mollie Walker of the New York Post relays (Twitter link) that winger Chris Kreider has been activated off injured reserve.
Kreider had been dealing with an upper-body injury sustained in the first game back after the 4 Nations Face-Off break. While his goal production has still been reasonably high, it has been a tough year for the 33-year-old overall. Through 48 games this season, Kreider has 17 goals but just four assists, putting him on pace for the lowest full-season point total of his career.
His early-season struggles had him placed on the trade market back in late November with GM Chris Drury looking to shake up the veteran core on his roster. The other veteran put on the block at that time (Jacob Trouba) ultimately was moved but a viable trade market never seemed to materialize for Kreider.
Kreider has two years left on his contract, one that carries a $6.5MM cap charge and a 15-team no-trade list. A strong finish to his season could help bolster his market on the trade front and potentially help New York sneak into the postseason as despite their recent moves as a seller, they enter play today tied for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Laurent Brossoit Not Expected To Return This Season
Laurent Brossoit’s first year with the Blackhawks hasn’t gone well, to say the least. Signed to a two-year, $6MM contract last summer to try to give Chicago some stability between the pipes, he has yet to play for them this season. It doesn’t look like he will either as Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times relays that goalie coach Jimmy Waite recently indicated that he doesn’t expect the netminder to be able to return this season.
The 31-year-old underwent meniscus surgery in late August that was initially expected to carry a five-to-seven-week recovery timeline. While that would mean he’d miss training camp, the thought was that he’d be ready to play early in the regular season and he was originally thought to be ready to debut partway through their opening road trip. Then in late October, he was supposed to begin skating and would need a few weeks to ramp up. Two weeks later, his timeline was changed to being out indefinitely.
Brossoit then underwent a second procedure on his knee at the end of November with no timeline for a return although GM Kyle Davidson was hopeful back in late January that his new netminder would be able to play this season. Clearly, that’s no longer the case although Brossoit recently expressed some optimism to Waite about his recovery which could be a good sign for next year.
Brossoit posted a 2.00 GAA and a .927 SV% in 23 games with Winnipeg in 2023-24, a solid bounce-back performance after being in the minors at times the year before. That made him one of the bigger wild cards heading into free agency but even with his inconsistent track record, he still landed the biggest financial commitment of his career and looked to be part of Chicago’s short-term plans at the very least.
But that fit is much less certain now. Arvid Soderblom, who Brossoit was likely signed to replace in the goaltending platoon, has bounced back quite well after a disastrous performance last season, upping his save percentage by 25 points along the way. In doing so, he’s back to being in at least the shorter-term plans in goal as well with prospects Drew Commesso and Adam Gajan not ready for full-time NHL duty just yet.
Meanwhile, Chicago also picked up Spencer Knight from Florida as a key part of the return in their trade for Seth Jones earlier this month. At 23, he’s now their goalie of the present and future so he figures to be the top option in their tandem with Soderblom as the backup.
Chicago was able to move Petr Mrazek on Friday to avoid an extended stretch of carrying three netminders but assuming Brossoit is able to play next season, they’ll be in that situation once more. But Davidson at least has some time to come up with a plan for how to handle that situation as now with Brossoit effectively ruled out for the rest of this season, it won’t be an issue until training camp in the fall.
Sharks Notes: Thrun, Giles, Gregor, Goaltenders
The Sharks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated defenseman Henry Thrun off injured reserve. He had missed the last week and a half after suffering an upper-body injury late last month against Montreal. The 23-year-old is in his first full NHL season and has played in 51 games with San Jose thus far, picking up a goal and nine assists while averaging just under 17 minutes a night, a full three minutes a night below his ATOI from last season after he was brought up from the Barracuda. However, with Jake Walman now in Edmonton, Thrun should be in line for a bigger role with San Jose down the stretch.
More from San Jose:
- The Sharks will get a look at one of their newcomers quickly as in the same announcement as Thrun’s, the team noted that forward Patrick Giles was recalled from the Barracuda. Acquired earlier this week from Florida in the Vitek Vanecek deal, the 25-year-old played in nine games with the Panthers this season but has spent most of the year in the minors. In 39 contests on the farm with AHL Charlotte, he has five goals and two assists.
- It would appear that part of the reason for Giles’ recall is the uncertainty with Noah Gregor’s availability, suggests Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link). Gregor has to go through the immigration process before he’s cleared to play, a process that can sometimes take several days to get through. Gregor, acquired from Ottawa in a literal last-minute deal before the deadline, will be entering his second stint with the Sharks and his availability for Saturday’s game against the Islanders is in question.
- While San Jose did plenty of selling, they did try to make one small buyer move at the deadline. Speaking with reporters including Max Miller of The Hockey News (Twitter link), GM Mike Grier indicated that he tried to acquire a second goaltender to allow Georgi Romanov to remain in the minors but that the price to do so was too high. Instead, Romanov, who has just two career NHL appearances, will serve as Alexandar Georgiev’s backup with top prospect Yaroslav Askarov out due to a lower-body injury.
Jonas Siegenthaler Out For Rest Of Regular Season
It’s going to be a while before the Devils get some help on the back end. In his post-deadline press conference (video link), GM Tom Fitzgerald indicated that blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler (lower body) won’t be able to return for the rest of the regular season but does have a chance to return in the playoffs. Meanwhile, he declined to put a timeline on the reported week-to-week lower-body injury for Dougie Hamilton but confirmed that his top-scoring blueliner will be out for an extended period.
Siegenthaler has been out of the lineup for a little more than a month due to a lower-body injury and was moved to LTIR in recent days before Jack Hughes’ season-ending shoulder surgery. The 27-year-old isn’t a big point producer from the back end as he had just two goals and seven assists in 55 games before being injured; his nine points matched his total from last season.
But Siegenthaler has long been a capable defensive defender and his absence will be more felt on that end. He primarily played in a shutdown role while taking a regular turn on the penalty kill; all told, he finishes his regular season with 19:36 in ATOI. While that ranks fifth among New Jersey defenders, none of their rearguards are averaging 21 minutes a game on the season with their distribution being quite close, a rarity across the NHL.
New Jersey quickly moved to fill Siegenthaler’s role earlier this week when they acquired Brian Dumoulin from Anaheim while they picked up Dennis Cholowski from the Islanders today to add more defensive depth. But that’s all the help they’re going to have now for a while with no word on how long Hamilton will be out for while we now know that Siegenthaler’s set to miss the final six weeks of the regular season and potentially more.