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Minor Transactions: 10/23/23

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It figures to be a quiet day in the NHL with just a single game on the docket this evening. However, across the hockey world things have been busy as usual. In Switzerland, the ZSC Lions have made news by extending several players to multi-year contract extensions including a couple of former NHLers. The Lions currently sit in second place in the Swiss National League with 11 wins in their first 15 games.

Although the NHL schedule has just one game this evening, the world of pro hockey is busy today and therefore so is the transaction wire. We’ll keep track of notable player movement here.

  • The ZSC Lions announced a two-year extension with former NHL defenseman Yannick Weber. The 35-year-old veteran of 499 NHL games last played in the NHL during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, dressing in two games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Over the course of his 13-year NHL career, Weber posted 28 goals and 94 points while playing primarily as a sixth or seventh defenseman. Since returning home, Weber has dressed in 116 games with the Lions, posting nine goals and 22 assists.
  • The ZSC Lions also extended defenseman Mikko Lehtonen on a two-year deal. The former Toronto Maple Leafs rearguard spent one season in the NHL split between the Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets where he posted six assists in 26 games during the shortened 2020-21 season. The Turka, Finland native is in his second season with the Lions and was solid last year with seven goals and 23 assists in 52 games. This year he has 11 points in the first 15 games as he has continued to produce strong offensive numbers from the back end.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Sam Gagner Signs AHL Contract

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Former Edmonton Oilers forward Sam Gagner has reportedly signed a contract with the team’s AHL affiliate the Bakersfield Condors and will join the team. The veteran of over 1,000 NHL games was on a tryout with the Oilers but was unable to dress for any preseason games during training camp after signing his PTO in late August.

The 34-year-old has suited up for seven different NHL teams over the course of his 16-year NHL career and will return to the AHL for the first time since 2019-20 when he coincidently also played for the Condors.

This is Gagner’s third run with the Oilers organization after they drafted him in the first round, sixth overall in the 2007 NHL entry draft. Although he never lived up to the promise he showed as an 18-year-old when he posted 13 goals and 36 assists in 79 games, he has a solid career with 519 points in 1,015 games.

Gagner is trying to get back to the NHL after undergoing double hip surgery in March of this year which led to him missing the end of last year as well as the preseason. He was a decent depth option with the Winnipeg Jets last year posting eight goals and six assists in 48 games while playing just 12 minutes a night. But, if he can perform anywhere close to his 2021-22 numbers in which he posted 31 points in 81 games with the Detroit Red Wings, he could give himself a real shot to earn a pro-rated NHL deal this season. Especially with the Oilers, who have struggled to find any kind of depth to start the season.

Gagner will take some time to work himself into game shape, but this isn’t unchartered waters for the London, Ontario native as he has been down the AHL road before on three separate occasions. As mentioned earlier, Gagner spent part of the 2019-20 season in the AHL, as well as 43 games with the Toronto Marlies in 2018-19 and a nine-game stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the 2015-16 season.

Jets’ Coach Rick Bowness Takes Leave Of Absence

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The Winnipeg Jets received some awful news this morning that head coach Rick Bowness’ wife Judy had suffered a seizure and is in hospital. Winnipeg announced this morning that Bowness would be taking a leave of absence to attend to the health of his wife and asked for privacy for him and his family.

For now, it appears as though associate coach Scott Arniel will take over coaching duties until such time that Bowness is able to return. Arniel is familiar with being a head coach as he was the bench boss for the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2010-12, compiling a record of 45-60-18 over the course of two seasons. Since leaving Columbus, Arniel has served primarily as an assistant coach with the New York Rangers (2013-2018) and the Washington Capitals (2018-2022).

Bowness is in his second season behind the Jets bench after spending three seasons with the Dallas Stars, where he took the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2020 in what was a feel-good story during the 2020 playoffs that were played in the pandemic bubble.

PHR sends its best wishes to the Bowness family and the Jets community and wishes Judy a speedy recovery.

Latest On Pittsburgh Penguins Roster

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The Pittsburgh Penguins finally found a goal scorer in their bottom six forwards as Radim Zohorna lit the lamp in the final minutes of the Penguins’ 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues last night. Zohorna was playing in his first game of the season after being sent down to the AHL after a strong training camp and formed a unit with fellow winger Drew O’Connor and center Lars Eller.

After the game, Penguins Coach Mike Sullivan was visibly frustrated with his team’s play, and while he didn’t talk about roster decisions going forward, General Manager Kyle Dubas has been. Dubas spoke with NHL On TNT just a few nights ago and said he wanted the bottom six forwards to be tougher to play against and added that he didn’t feel the group was there yet. Dubas’ comments sparked speculation that the Penguins could be looking to make a move in the bottom six and they did by waiving Jansen Harkins and re-calling Zohorna before last night’s game. The Penguins also health-scratched defenseman P.O. Joseph in favor of Ryan Shea who made his NHL debut on the Penguins’ third pairing.

Kyle Dubas stocked up on fringe NHL talent in the offseason and has stashed many of those options in the AHL specifically for a moment like this. The Penguins AHL affiliate has so many veterans in fact that Alex Nylander and Andreas Johnsson had to be veteran scratches for last night’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins game. On top of Nylander, Johnsson, and Harkins, the Penguins also have Vinnie Hinostroza, Rem Pitlick, and Colin White as former NHLers who could be called up to shuffle the furniture in the Penguins bottom six.

Josh Yohe of The Athletic wrote in his 10 Postgame Observations piece that Sullivan typically doesn’t make major changes after a loss, but given the team’s recent record and his comments, he implies that it could happen. The Penguins third line of O’Connor, Eller and Zohorna was very good last night, however, the fourth line of Matthew Nieto, Jeff Carter and Noel Acciari has offered very little to the team and appears to be constantly chasing the play. That group is at the bottom of the Penguins lineup in almost every analytical statistic and has a combined zero points in five games together. Sullivan has been apprehensive about scratching Carter in the past and became defensive with the media last season on multiple occasions when the topic was asked about.

It might be just five games into the season but given that the Penguins are 2-3 against five teams that didn’t make the playoffs last season, there could be big changes brewing in Pittsburgh as Dubas and company try to find an identity for the bottom six forwards. A competent bottom-six has been something the Penguins have lacked since they lost Brandon Tanev (and Jared McCann via trade) in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft and it was one of the big reasons they missed the playoffs in 2023.

Connor McDavid Suffers An Apparent Injury

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It has been a bumpy start to the season for the Edmonton Oilers, and things could become even more difficult. Greg Wyshynski of ESPN is reporting that Oilers superstar center Connor McDavid suffered an apparent injury in the third period of Edmonton’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets last night.

McDavid’s last shift occurred with 4:20 left in the third period as he remained on the bench through the final minutes of regulation as well as all of overtime. The 26-year-old phenom’s final two shifts were 33 and 34 seconds long, a huge decrease from his usual shift length of 56 seconds. McDavid could be seen in visible discomfort on his final shift as he grabbed at his side on a rush play.

After the game Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said he had yet to speak with the trainers, but he believed McDavid’s ailment was a muscular issue. He added that the team would likely have more information later today or tomorrow.

The Oilers can ill afford to lose McDavid for any length of time. Edmonton is viewed as a cup contender by many pundits, although they haven’t started the season like one. The Oilers already sit nine points behind the defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights and have only collected three points through five games.

Even with McDavid in the lineup Edmonton has struggled. They’ve posted a record of 1-3-1 on the season and have twice blown leads including a two-goal lead last night against Winnipeg. McDavid has done his part thus far with eight points in five games, however, the rest of the team has been outworked and overmatched throughout much of the season.

If McDavid is out for any length of time the Oilers start to the season could go from bumpy to rocky very quickly.

Latest On Conor Garland Trade Market

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported today on the 32 Thoughts podcast that he believes that Luke Schenn’s injury will lower the probability that the Nashville Predators get involved in the Conor Garland sweepstakes. Friedman theorizes that the Canucks’ desired return for Garland could be defenseman Dante Fabbro, but given the injury to fellow defenseman Schenn, the Predators will likely have less of an appetite to make the move.

The Predators announced this morning that Schenn would be out 4-6 weeks with a lower body injury leaving Nashville a man short on the back end and unlikely to further deplete their defense core. The Predators have a need at forward, but given Friedman’s words, it appears that they don’t want to create a hole to fill another one.

For the Canucks, the injury could remove one potential suitor for the 27-year-old Garland from a trade market that already favors the buyer. The NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes reported today that the Canucks are willing to retain around 30% of Garland’s cap hit for the remaining two years, a step that may be necessary to move the player in a difficult trade market that has so many teams within $1MM of the salary cap ceiling.

The Canucks appear to be hopeful that they can clear some cap space with the Garland move to facilitate other transactions and give the team some much-needed salary cap flexibility. But, unless another team has an early season injury to a winger, the Canucks may need to be patient and wait until the trade deadline when teams will have more flexibility under the cap. The Canucks have been proactive in their approach and gave Garland’s agent permission to seek a trade to another, but nothing has materialized at this time.

Garland’s playing time has been down significantly to start the season as he has averaged just 11:34 of ice time through the first three games of the season, down substantially from the 15:16 of ice time he has averaged throughout his six-year career. The native of Scituate, Massachusetts, has posted 84 goals and 111 assists in 325 NHL games and has been difficult to play against throughout his career, despite being undersized.

Nic Dowd Out With An Injury

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The Washington Capitals announced that center Nic Dowd wouldn’t dress for tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators due to an upper-body injury. There is no information as to when Dowd suffered the injury, or how long the 33-year-old will be out of action. Dowd played over 15 minutes in Washington’s 3-2 shootout win over the Calgary Flames just two nights ago, although he did block seven shots in the Capitals first two games of the season.

Dowd missed practice yesterday in what the Capitals referred to as a maintenance day, he did suit up this morning for the team’s optional skate but didn’t dress for the game tonight.

Dowd has been a mainstay in Washington’s bottom six since signing with the team as a free agent in July 2018, however, he has dealt with multiple absences due to injury in nearly every season. Dowd did play in 65 games last season, his highest total since becoming a Capital. In those games, Dowd posted a career-high 13 goals and 25 points, while registering 61 blocked shots, also the most in his career.

While little is known about Dowd’s injury thus far, the Huntsville, Alabama native did have offseason core surgery and spoke during training camp about injuries becoming part of his reality as an aging NHLer. It’s also a reality the Capitals have had to deal with over the last two seasons as the second-oldest team in the NHL. Last year Washington had the fourth most man games lost due to injury and this season they could fare even worse if their current injury pattern continues. The Capitals are already without defenseman Joel Edmundson, goalie Charlie Lindgren and forward Max Pacioretty.

Red Wings Healthy Scratch Jeff Petry

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It’s been a strange 14 months for Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jeff Petry. The 35-year-old defenseman was traded in July 2022 by the Montreal Canadiens to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a package that included defenseman Mike Matheson and forward Ryan Poehling. Petry spent one uneven season with the Penguins only to be traded back to Montreal 13 months later in a salary dump as part of the Erik Karlsson trade. Petry was then flipped to the Red Wings for a fourth-round draft pick and Gustav Lindstrom.

Now, just two games into his time with Detroit, Petry already finds himself a healthy scratch as per the Red Wings X account. Petry was in the press box during the Red Wings 4-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight as Detroit dressed six defensemen and 12 forwards for the game.

The Red Wings traded very little to acquire Petry, but it is difficult to understand the logic of the move given how many other NHL veterans are currently signed to play on Detroit’s blue line. The Red Wings made several moves this summer to acquire veteran defensemen with Petry coming into the organization along with Justin Holl and Shayne Gostisbehere.

Petry was a bit of a wild card as he hasn’t been overly effective since the 2020-21 season when he was with the Canadiens and has been shuffled through multiple organizations in that time. Last year in Pittsburgh he wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t particularly good either, which prompted the Penguins to make the Karlsson move to replace Petry and add more power to their offense.

In his first two games in Detroit, Petry has really struggled posting no points and a -2 while averaging 16:44 of ice time. A dramatic decline from the 22:14 he has averaged throughout his career. While his ice time is down substantially, his play hasn’t warranted additional ice time as he has found himself on the wrong side of puck possession more often than not in the first two games.

How Detroit handles their defense going forward could make for interesting theatre. Moritz Seider and Jake Walman aren’t coming out of the lineup for Petry and given their play as of late it seems unlikely that Olli Maatta or Gostisbehere are coming out of the lineup either. The likeliest candidate is Holl, but like Petry, he was just brought in this summer, and it wouldn’t be a great look to scratch him after a handful of games.

Detroit has alternated using six or seven defensemen this season and may continue to do so with the logjam in their defensive core. However, constantly sitting newly acquired veterans is often frowned upon and could lead to some bitter feelings among veterans.

Anthony Mantha A Healthy Scratch For Washington

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The Washington Capitals announced tonight that they’ve made former 25-goal scorer Anthony Mantha a healthy scratch for their game against the Calgary Flames. The forward has struggled with the Capitals since coming over from the Detroit Red Wings in an ill-fated 2021 trade for Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik.

Less than a decade ago, the 29-year-old looked like he would blossom into a perennial 30-goal threat as he posted 25 goals in 67 games during the 2018-19 season. He continued his torrid pace in 2019-20 posting 38 points in 43 games during an injury-marred campaign.

The following offseason the Red Wings signed Mantha to a four-year extension with a $5.7MM cap hit that began to look like a misfire almost immediately. Mantha returned from injury and was never able to get back to the level of play he enjoyed from 2017-2019 as he registered just 11 goals and 10 assists in 42 games before he was dealt to Washington at the NHL trade deadline.

After the move to D.C. Mantha posted slightly improved offensive numbers with 13 goals and 18 assists in his first 51 games as a member of the Capitals. However, last season his point totals fell off a cliff as he had just 11 goals and 27 points in 67 games.

Mantha’s struggles led to speculation that he could be bought out this past June, however, the Capitals elected to keep the forward for the final season of his contract and put him on the trade block to see if they could find him a change of scenery. Nothing materialized on the trade front, which isn’t shocking given how difficult it was to move salary this summer.

The healthy scratch of Mantha early in the season is interesting for several reasons. It shows that the Capitals’ new head coach Spencer Carbery isn’t afraid to sit veterans to ice the best lineup possible, but it also serves as a reminder that Mantha is unlikely to remain in Washington beyond this season. Teams usually like to spend ten games assessing what they have before they decide on a direction for the season but given what has transpired with him over the last year in Washington it appears the Capitals have already made up their mind on the direction to take with Mantha’s future.

Panthers Sign Jonah Gadjovich To One-Year Deal

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The Florida Panthers announced today that they’ve signed forward Jonah Gadjovich to a one-year, one-way NHL contract. The 25-year-old native of Whitby, Ontario played with the San Jose Sharks last season where he dressed in 35 games and registered three goals and four assists.

The contract is a nice development for Gadjovich who previously signed in July with Florida’s AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers. That was a one-year AHL contract for the former 2017 second-round pick, but it likely contained an out clause allowing him to sign in the NHL with Charlotte’s parent club.

Gadjovich was non-tendered by the Sharks after last season in a move that wasn’t all that surprising given that he was due a qualifying offer of $787,500 and hadn’t produced much offense in the NHL. While he won’t fill the net for Florida, he will offer some sandpaper to the Panthers. Last season Gadjovich threw 92 hits in the NHL while playing less than nine minutes a night in just 35 games. And while those types of hit numbers usually indicate a player who’s chasing the puck, his underlying analytics don’t paint that picture.

The biggest knock on Gadjovich has been his inability to stay on the ice. Over the last two seasons with San Jose, he dressed in just 78 games and found himself out with injury four separate times. The Panthers are hoping that the big forward can have a change of injury luck and become a rugged fixture in the bottom six for the remainder of this season.

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