Snapshots: Sabres, Maccelli, Cooper
There’s no doubt that the Buffalo Sabres will be sellers once again at this year’s Trade Deadline, but there have been many questions posed about how many desirable assets the Sabres actually have. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta can report, though, that Buffalo is “taking calls” on a good portion of their defense core, including Colin Miller, Mark Pysyk, Robert Hagg, and Will Butcher, who are all pending unrestricted free agents. Miller and Pysyk especially have had good results this season, and could command at least a mid-round pick and pose as solid depth for contending teams. The team has also received interest in power-play specialist and pending restricted free agent Victor Olofsson, per Pagnotta. While it may seem surprising that the Sabres would currently be willing to deal a young forward, it looks like Olofsson’s inconsistency and poor defensive play are making the Sabres front office question his future with the team.
More notes from the league on a sleepy Thursday:
- Matias Maccelli, who’s torn up the AHL this season with the Tucson Roadrunners, is making his NHL debut tonight for the Arizona Coyotes and rightfully so. He’s not exactly a household name, even among prospect aficionados, but the organization is high on him, said general manager Bill Armstrong in a radio appearance today. He’ll come into the team’s training camp next season with the chance to start the season in the team’s top six. He’s getting a look there tonight, as well, lining up alongside Alex Galchenyuk and Phil Kessel for his NHL debut. Maccelli has 14 goals and 41 assists for 55 points in 42 AHL games.
- A relative rarity nowadays, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was ejected near the end of the second period from tonight’s game against Pittsburgh after getting into a verbal spat with referee Wes McCauley. It’s something to watch out for in the coming days, as the incident will likely be followed up with a fine from the NHL.
Oilers Place Ryan Nugent-Hopkins On IR, Activate Kyle Turris
The Edmonton Oilers have performed a roster swap of sorts, moving Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to injured reserve in order to activate veteran forward Kyle Turris, as per the team.
Nugent-Hopkins has already been on the shelf for about a week with an upper-body injury suffered on February 26th against the Florida Panthers, causing him to leave the game after just three shifts. It’s his second injury-related absence this season after a lower-body injury kept him out for most of January.
Turris, who has just a goal and three assists in 22 games this season, has played just one game since January 5th. He subsequently entered COVID protocol, played one game, and then suffered an undisclosed injury that’s sidelined him for around a month.
With Nugent-Hopkins still out of the mix for a little while yet, the team will need to rely more on wingers such as Kailer Yamamoto and Warren Foegele to up their production. Yamamoto has especially lagged in the points department this season, notching just 11 goals and nine assists in 53 games despite getting consistent top-six usage.
As the Oilers have been icing 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the past while, though, it’s a natural fit for Turris to potentially get his feet back under him with some game action.
Trade Deadline Primer: Anaheim Ducks
As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Anaheim Ducks.
The youth is here in Southern California, perhaps a bit earlier than planned. Jamie Drysdale, Trevor Zegras, and Troy Terry are just part of the young core that’s helped to spearhead the Ducks into the playoff conversation early in the season, although things have begun to fade recently. Sonny Milano and Isac Lundestrom have also made sizable contributions to the Anaheim lineup this year.
But Anaheim has stuttered in recent weeks, now under .500 in their last ten games and two points out of a playoff spot despite playing more games than everyone else. Now in battle with more experienced teams like Nashville, Dallas, and Edmonton, the Ducks simply aren’t in a position anymore to consider selling assets for a playoff run, if they ever were. How the Ducks and new general manager Pat Verbeek navigate the Trade Deadline in this stepping stone season could have big dividends for their future.
Record
26-21-9, (.545), fifth in Pacific Division
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$38,364,807 today, $55,628,970 in full-season space, 0/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: ANA 1st, ANA 2nd, ANA 4th, ANA 5th, TOR 5th, NSH 6th
2023: ANA 1st, ANA 2nd, ANA 3rd, ANA 4th, ANA 5th, ANA 6th
Trade Chips
The name that likely jumps off the page for many NHL fans is defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who’s in the final season of a $5.21MM AAV deal and is a pending UFA. However, the Ducks do hope to extend Lindholm, so unless it becomes apparent in the next few weeks that an extension isn’t possible, he likely won’t be moved.
One forward who could likely get shipped out of town after many years of speculation is Rickard Rakell. He’s also a pending UFA with a cap hit of $3.79MM, an extremely reasonable hit for Rakell, who has 15 goals and 26 points in 46 games this season. He would provide great middle-six depth for any team looking to add another scoring winger to their lineup, and with Anaheim’s breadth of forward prospects, he may not really fit into their long-term plan at this point.
There’s also Nicolas Deslauriers, who was nearly a Pittsburgh Penguin at last year’s trade deadline. Now a pending UFA as well with a $1MM cap hit, the gritty fourth-line checking winger is the type of player playoff teams salivate over to complete their lineup. He has nine points in 53 games this season.
There’s also the question of captain Ryan Getzlaf, who’s again a pending UFA after signing a one-year deal to remain in Orange County. He’ll likely control his own destiny, but if he wants to chase another Stanley Cup in what could be his last season, Anaheim would likely oblige.
Defenseman Josh Manson is definitely another trade candidate and another pending UFA. One of the better defensive defensemen in the league, he can handle top-four minutes with ease and can play a bruising game. But he’s on the shelf right now with an injury, and it’s uncertain whether he’ll be healthy before the Trade Deadline. If he’s not, he can’t be moved while on injured reserve.
Team Needs
1) Defense Prospects — Anaheim’s starting to get good things out of their young defensemen like Drysdale and Josh Mahura. But the team’s prospect pool remains top-heavy as players like Jacob Larsson begin to flame out. The team’s best defensive prospect right now is likely Jackson LaCombe out of the University of Minnesota, and while he’s solid, they could use another piece or two like him to help round out their list of prospects. If teams are willing to part with players instead of draft picks in any deadline deals Anaheim makes, they’d do best to shoot for a ‘D’.
2) More Draft Picks — The Ducks only have six selections in each of the next two drafts, trading away their 2022 3rd for an additional 2021 3rd last year and trading away their 2023 7th for Alexander Volkov, who has since departed the organization. The team should definitely be in a contending position in three or four years at this trajectory, and they’ll need more players from these upcoming drafts to step into the lineup on cheap, entry-level deals as they begin to spend to the salary cap again.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Carolina Hurricanes To Host Washington Capitals In 2023 Stadium Series
After a long series of COVID-related postponements and cancellations, the Carolina Hurricanes will finally be hosting their long-rumored first outdoor game. The NHL issued a press release today stating that Carolina will host the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, on February 18, 2023.
Carolina was originally supposed to host the 2021 Stadium Series game, but the league made the decision to postpone it prior to the start of the season in December of 2020 as the threat of COVID still loomed largely. General manager Don Waddell then reached a mutual agreement with the NHL prior to the 2021-22 campaign to hold the game off again until 2023 to ensure that the game would be played in front of a full house of fans.
For Washington, it’s their fourth outdoor game in franchise history. They’ve yet to lose outdoors, defeating Pittsburgh in the 2011 Winter Classic, Chicago in the 2015 Winter Classic, and Toronto in the 2018 NHL Stadium Series.
It marks the second season in a row that the Stadium Series has gone to a southern U.S. market.
Snapshots: Capitals, Penguins, King
Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan gave a variety of updates in a midseason presser today, recapped in this article by The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell. First and most concerning is the health status of winger Carl Hagelin, who was hit in the eye with a stick during yesterday’s practice. MacLellan called the injury “serious,” and Hagelin has had surgery within the past day. MacLellan says the examination went in a positive direction, but that the next steps for Hagelin are “still to be determined.” However, it’s possible that winger Anthony Mantha could return to the lineup this week in Hagelin’s absence. Mantha had six points in 10 games this season before going down with a shoulder injury.
More notes on this Wednesday evening:
- As the Pittsburgh Penguins embark on a tough schedule ahead with a long string of games against playoff teams, they could be getting two reinforcements back in the lineup. Head coach Mike Sullivan says center Teddy Blueger is now taking full-contact practices but will need a few practices more before he’s ready to return the lineup. Winger Jason Zucker “isn’t as close” as Blueger, but will likely return to practice soon. Blueger has been out since late January with a broken jaw, while Zucker has been out with an upper-body injury since around the same time.
- Newly-named Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson called interim head coach Derek King “definitely a viable candidate” to be the team’s next permanent head coach today. While Blackhawks fans may be frustrated that their management crew won’t see fresh faces, the rebuilding team has kept up a .500 points percentage under King, an impressive feat considering a weak roster and some tough injuries. It would be King’s first NHL head coaching role.
Edmonton Oilers Extend Dmitri Samorukov, Sign Two Others
The Edmonton Oilers announced Wednesday afternoon that they’ve signed defenseman Dmitri Samorukov to a one-year contract extension. The organization also signed forward James Hamblin and defenseman Vincent Desharnais, who were both on AHL deals with their affiliate in Bakersfield, to two-year contracts beginning next season. Per CapFriendly, Hamblin’s two-way deal carries a $807,500 cap hit and Desharnais’ carries a $762,500 cap hit. Samorukov’s is a one-way deal paying him $775,000.
Samorukov’s extension and Desharnais’ contract are both standard player contracts, while Hamblin’s is an entry-level deal.
Samorukov, a third-round pick of the team in 2017, is on the right track again after some injury troubles. He made his NHL debut earlier this season and the defensive defenseman has 11 points in 36 AHL games this season, already breaking his career-high of 10 set in 2019-20. He could get a faster track to the NHL under new Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft, considering the two know each other well by this point.
The Woodcroft connection also likely has a lot to do with Desharnais and Hamblin getting their deals. Desharnais has taken the long way to his first NHL deal, signing with the Condors in 2019 after finishing his college career at Providence. Since then, he’s graduated from a stint in the ECHL with the Wichita Thunder, and now has 18 points in 42 games with Bakersfield this year. He was actually a seventh-round pick of the Oilers in 2016, but his signing rights expired years ago.
Hamblin, just 22, signed with Bakersfield after three years as captain of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. He has a solid 12 goals and 20 points in 39 AHL games this season.
Trade Deadline Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning
With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is now less than a month away. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Aspirations of a three-peat are still alive and well in Tampa Bay, where the Lightning are once again thriving in a tough division despite facing a variety of injuries all year. They’ll undoubtedly be one of the top three teams in the Atlantic Division at the season’s end, but with increasingly tough competition, more fortification to the lineup wouldn’t hurt to help their chances at a Cup in 2022.
Record
34-11-6, 2nd in Atlantic
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$100,000 today, $100,000 in full-season space, 0/3 retention slots used, 49/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: TBL 1st, TBL 5th, TBL 6th, DET 6th, TBL 7th, NYR 7th
2023: TBL 1st, TBL 3rd, TBL 4th, TBL 5th, TBL 6th, TBL 7th, ANA 7th
Trade Chips
One of the handicaps of being back-to-back Stanley Cup champions is having to pay up when players’ contracts expire. That’s impacted the Lightning greatly, forcing them to jettison their now-famed third line of Yanni Gourde, Barclay Goodrow, and Blake Coleman this offseason as well as acquire Brent Seabrook‘s contract for long-term injured reserve relief. Even with all that, they’re within thousands of dollars of the salary cap, and any trade deadline deal will likely need to be a money-in, money-out sort of swap.
It would be fair to argue that it would serve Tampa better to just stand pat, considering how strong their team has been all season. But if they do opt to move out a roster player for a win-now upgrade, defenseman Cal Foote immediately jumps off the page. It’s certainly not time to give up on him yet, but in his second full-time season, he’s got just five points in 37 games and has been sparingly used in the lineup, averaging just 13:35 per game. He’s also the weakest analytical link on the Tampa Bay blue line. In fact, given Foote’s youth and ceiling, general manager Julien BriseBois could likely recoup an asset or two from another team along with a more experienced, veteran defenseman.
If a different deal comes along, the Bolts do still have a closet of later-round picks to deal from in the 2023 Draft. With just six picks remaining in 2022, it’s reasonable to expect that they’d prefer to hold onto those for the time being.
Others To Watch For: F Alex Barre-Boulet ($758k through 2024), F Gabriel Fortier ($792k through 2023), G Hugo Alnefelt ($851k through 2023)
Team Needs
1) Depth Defenseman – It’s poetic that one of the few transactions that makes sense for such a cap-strapped team also fills likely their biggest need in the lineup. Behind Foote on the depth chart is Zach Bogosian, who’s struggled with injury all season, and Andrej Sustr, a European re-entry player this year who’s gotten into just 13 games with one point. Another body would be good insurance for Tampa, especially another left-shot man for the third pairing that would allow them to more comfortably use Mikhail Sergachev up alongside Victor Hedman, where he’s found a good home this season.
2) More Draft Picks – The prospect cupboard is beginning to empty for Tampa, who has drafted very efficiently in recent years to maintain their success. Getting some more mid- to late-round picks in the fold in the right trade could once again pan out to be a star for the Lightning’s stellar scouting group.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Chicago Blackhawks To Name Kyle Davidson GM
The Chicago Blackhawks are expected to announce current interim general manager Kyle Davidson as the team’s 10th permanent GM in team history tomorrow, according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
Davidson was named the team’s interim general manager on October 26, 2021, after previous GM Stan Bowman resigned after he was implicated in the organization’s systemic “inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response” as it related to video coach Brad Aldrich‘s sexual assault of former Blackhawk forward Kyle Beach in 2010.
The announcement is likely underwhelming to some fans considering the unusually public and transparent nature of the team’s search for a new GM. Unlike other vacancies which are usually met by swirling rumors of potential candidates, the Blackhawks went so far as to announce all their interviewees by name, clearly laying out all the potential candidates for the job.
Three days ago, it was reported by multiple sources, including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, that Davidson was one of the final three candidates for the job. The other two finalists were reportedly Tampa Bay Lightning director of hockey operations Mathieu Darche and the MLB’s Chicago Cubs assistant GM Jeff Greenberg.
Seravalli reports that former Blackhawk Brian Campbell, who was notably on the 2009-10 Blackhawks that won the Stanley Cup during the period in which the allegations against Aldrich were brought forward, will take on a “significant role” alongside Davidson as the Blackhawks continue to rebuild their roster.
Davidson’s rise within the Blackhawks organization is somewhat of a meteoric one. He actually joined the team as an intern for the 2010-11 campaign, which he was then able to parlay into a role as the team’s manager of hockey administration from 2011 to 2018. He was brought back to the organization as an assistant GM prior to 2019-20, and was additionally given the title of VP of hockey strategy and analytics in 2021-22 before being promoted.
Coyotes’ Liam O’Brien Listed As Week-To-Week
The Arizona Coyotes tweeted today that forward Liam O’Brien is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury that he sustained last Friday during the team’s game versus the Vegas Golden Knights.
Largely a career AHLer, O’Brien has worked his way into a full-time NHL role with the Coyotes this season as one of the few enforcers left in the league. Getting into 37 games with Arizona this year, easily a career-high, O’Brien has two goals and an assist for three points. He leads the league with 106 penalty minutes.
With O’Brien out, it’s likely a chance for veteran Riley Nash to get into the lineup on a more frequent basis as the team tries to showcase him ahead of the Trade Deadline. Claimed off waivers earlier in the season, Nash has two assists in 41 NHL games this year.
It could also be an opportunity for the team’s youngsters such as Jan Jenik or Ben McCartney to earn another call-up from AHL Tucson as the team tries to evaluate which prospects could make the NHL full-time in 2022-23.
Trade Deadline Primer: Detroit Red Wings
With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is now less than a month away. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Detroit Red Wings.
The Detroit Red Wings have impressed this season, enjoying growth all around from their young core and gigantic rookie performances from Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider. With the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference virtually set in stone, though, any playoff aspirations for Detroit at this point are ill-advised, but that doesn’t take away from the extremely solid stepping-stone season Detroit and general manager Steve Yzerman have built to help set up the future.
Record
23-24-6, 5th in the Atlantic
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$35.80MM today, $55.49MM in full-season space, 1/3 retention slots used, 43/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: DET 1st, DET 2nd, WSH 2nd, DET 3rd, DET 4th, COL 4th, VGK 4th, DET 5th, DET 7th
2023: DET 1st, DET 2nd, DET 3rd, DET 4th, DET 5th, DET 6th, DET 7th
Trade Chips
Detroit’s on the emerging end of a rebuild, so any decent player with term for the Wings is likely safe from trade speculation. However, there’s a decent amount of pending unrestricted free agents for whom Detroit would love to retain assets.
The highest-caliber of these Detroit pending free agents is undoubtedly defenseman Nick Leddy. The long-time New York Islander was shipped to Detroit this past offseason in a salary-clearing move, with Detroit yielding a second-round pick to acquire his services. The 30-year-old has 12 points in 48 games this year and is still capable of logging top-four minutes, meaning that Yzerman should be able to at least recoup similar value for Leddy on the trade market. Leddy has struggled defensively, often being outshined by his partner Seider, but could benefit from facing lesser competition on a better team.
Marc Staal is another left-shot veteran defenseman on an expiring deal that could make some sense for teams. He’s having his best season in recent memory, rebounding with some solid two-way play after being an analytical nightmare for the past few years. His +12 rating is the only positive rating among active Detroit defensemen, and with a reasonable $2MM cap hit, many contenders could work him into a third-pairing/seventh man role with ease. He does have a no-movement clause, however, meaning he’d need to accept any trade in order for it to clear.
On offense, there’s Vladislav Namestnikov. Fifth on the team in goals with 13, he’s having a much better season than his first year in Detroit. He’s a good two-way presence capable of logging middle-six minutes, and his versatility among forward positions makes him an attractive option to have in the lineup when injury strikes. He could likely command a third- or fourth-round pick on the trade market, perhaps more.
Others To Watch For: F Sam Gagner ($850K, pending UFA), D Troy Stecher ($1.7M, pending UFA), G Thomas Greiss ($3.6MM, pending UFA)
Team Needs
1) 2023 Draft Picks — Detroit already has considerable pick depth in 2022 with an additional second-round choice and two extra fourth-round picks, but they’re lacking any additional selections in 2023. With that 2023 Draft class shaping up to be one of the overall highest-quality ones in recent memory, it would be wiser to load up the following year rather than trading for more 2022 selections. It could also give Detroit additional trade chip material at the 2023 Trade Deadline if the team finds itself in playoff contention.
2) Forward Prospects — While the Red Wings have an incredibly bright and deep future on defense, the Red Wings are now lacking many high-end forward prospects in the team’s development system after players like Lucas Raymond and Joe Veleno have graduated to full-time NHL roles. Additional depth there would be a nice get for Detroit.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images