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Waiver Wire: 10/4/24

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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman all 17 players on waivers yesterday have cleared. There are again several players to hit the wire today as reported by Friedman:

Anaheim Ducks

F Jansen Harkins

Boston Bruins

G Michael DiPietro
F Vinni Lettieri
D Jordan Oesterle

Florida Panthers

F William Lockwood

Los Angeles Kings

F Taylor Ward

New Jersey Devils

F Justin Dowling
F Mike Hardman
F Samuel Laberge
F Nathan Légaré
F Maxwell Willman

Philadelphia Flyers

F Olle Lycksell
F Anthony Richard

Pittsburgh Penguins

F Emil Bemström
D Nate Clurman
F Jonathan Gruden
F Joona Koppanen
D Filip Král
D John Ludvig
F Samuel Poulin

Tampa Bay Lightning

G Matt Tomkins

Toronto Maple Leafs

F Alex Steeves

Washington Capitals

D Ethan Bear
F Luke Philp
F Michael Sgarbossa

San Jose Sharks Assign Yaroslav Askarov To AHL

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The San Jose Sharks have made one of the more notable training camp cuts up to this point. The team announced today they have assigned goaltender Yaroslav Askarov to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda where he will begin the 2024-25 season.

It would typically be surprising for a team to demote a trade acquisition so quickly especially considering the price. In late August, the Sharks acquired Askarov from the Nashville Predators for Magnus Chrona, David Edstrom, and Vegas’ first-round pick in 2025 before inking him to a two-year, $4MM extension.

The context behind this move is although San Jose believes Askarov will be their starting goaltender of the future he has been injured for much of training camp. The lower-body injury suffered by the young netminder in early September has prohibited him from playing in any preseason contests up to this point. Still, he should now be able to with the Barracuda. He’s expected to practice with the team today but will not appear in tonight’s game against the Bakersfield Condors.

It’s more than likely the Sharks are viewing this demotion as a pseudo-training camp for their young netminder. Askarov can work his way back from injury in a league he has already dominated before making his full-time transition to the NHL.

This confirms San Jose will start the year with Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek as their two netminders. The Sharks should be able to deploy three goalies throughout most of the regular season meaning Askarov will receive the call-up when he is fully healthy.

Vegas Golden Knights Sign Tanner Pearson

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Another professional tryout agreement has ended in a guaranteed contract. The Vegas Golden Knights organization has announced they have signed veteran forward Tanner Pearson to a one-year, $775K contract for the 2024-25 NHL season.

It’s a feel-good story for Pearson who has been limited by injuries the last few years. His last year with the Vancouver Canucks in 2022-23 saw Pearson skate in only 14 contests during the season as a hand injury requiring three surgeries lost him much of the year. He managed to skate in more than half of the games last year with the Montreal Canadiens but another hand injury lost him 38 games on the season.

The injuries to his hand have certainly limited his offensive production over the last two years but Pearson has been known as a reliable depth scorer in the past. He’s no longer a player who can carry responsibility in the top six for a playoff contender like his days with the Los Angeles Kings in the mid-to-late 2010s.

He has shown glimpses of his goal-scoring capabilities recently with 21 goals in 69 games for the Canucks in 2019-20 with another 24 in 119 games from 2020-22. The Golden Knights will likely use Pearson in a bottom-six role on the wing for some offensive punch toward the bottom of the lineup.

The signing is not all that surprising despite Pearson’s waning abilities over the last couple of years. Vegas has experienced a dramatic decrease in depth thanks to spending toward the upper limit of the salary cap and will have to supplement their roster with league minimum contracts.

TSN’s Chris Johnston was the first to report the signing.

Calgary Flames Sign Tyson Barrie

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6:10 PM: The Flames have officially announced the signing, confirming the one-year, $1.25MM terms.

3:45 PM: Defenseman Tyson Barrie’s professional tryout agreement with the Calgary Flames organization appears to be a success. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports the Flames and Barrie have agreed to a one-year contract for the 2024-25 NHL season worth $1.25MM.

The Flames entered the offseason desperately needing help on defense after the team moved on from Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov, and Oliver Kylington over the last calendar year. Barrie is no longer a steady top-four defenseman able to quarterback a top powerplay unit. Still, he serves as a veteran puck-moving defenseman Calgary can utilize during their transitionary period.

He will likely suit up on the right side of the Flames’ bottom defensive pairing next to Kevin Bahl making Brayden Pachal the team’s seventh defenseman. He likely won’t serve on either of Calgary’s powerplay units unless the team trades one of MacKenzie Weegar or Rasmus Andersson during the 2024-25 regular season.

It will be an important year for Barrie as he looks to prove he has more left in the tank after a disappointing finish to his tenure with the Nashville Predators. He was originally acquired from the Edmonton Oilers to fill the void left by Mattias Ekholm and got off to a strong start with three goals and 12 points in 24 games. Unfortunately, last season did not treat Barrie well as he finished with one goal and 15 points in 41 games largely serving as a healthy scratch most nights.

He’s only a few years away from regularly producing between 40-60 points from the blue line. If Barrie’s first half of the season goes well in Calgary he would immediately become a trade candidate at next year’s trade deadline.

Atlantic Notes: McCabe, Senators, Laine

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There may be one more contract to sign for the Toronto Maple Leafs before they take the ice for the regular season. Nick Kypreos, co-host of the show, Real Kyper and Bourne, promoted yesterday that Toronto and defenseman Jake McCabe may have an extension finalized by the end of the week.

The Sportsnet co-host said, “The one thing I did hear is potentially a Jake McCabe extension coming, maybe before the season starts. I heard talks were real good. Now, still maybe debatable on how much term and maybe that still might fluctuate the AAV. But I’m thinking right now that he’d have no problem right now next season making $30 million over six years“.

A contract of this magnitude would only mark a slight pay increase for McCabe who is entering the last year of a four-year, $16MM contract originally signed with the Chicago Blackhawks. The term may be the deciding factor as a six-year deal would take McCabe into his age-37 season which could prove too lengthy for the Maple Leafs. It’s tough to argue with the results as McCabe has fit like a glove in Toronto’s system since being acquired from the Blackhawks in 2022-23.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • The Ottawa Senators received good news on the injury front with Alex Adams of Sportsnet reporting that Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, and Thomas Chabot were all on the ice for practice this afternoon. All three players were seemingly injured in the team’s most recent preseason contest against the Montreal Canadiens but none of the ailments proved costly. The game between the Canadiens was one of the more chaotic preseason games in recent memory with a whopping 79 PIMs bestowed upon the clubs.
  • Montreal avoided a major blow to their forward core earlier this week with the announcement Patrik Laine would only be out two to three months with a knee sprain and would not require surgery which likely saved his season. Laine spoke briefly about his desire to forego surgery when he said, “It was one of those you could go either way. I don’t think there’s ever any guarantees whether you do surgery or not…they did a good job of explaining the whole process and reassuring the chances are very high, that made me feel better about it” (X Link).

Metro Notes: Panarin, Sorokin, Fasching, Michkov

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The New York Rangers have had a couple of scares over the last week with All-Star forward Artemi Panarin leaving two preseason games with a lower-body injury. There was a fear that Panarin’s most recent injury could be longer term but Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that won’t be the case.

The Russian superstar is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury which is a best-case scenario for the player and the organization. Panarin left the Rangers’ preseason contest against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night and previously left the team’s game against the New York Islanders last week with a similar injury.

New York’s regular season success does not completely center around Panarin’s availability but he does account for much of it. He’s coming off the best statistical season of his career scoring 49 goals and 120 points in 82 contests while finishing fifth in Hart Memorial Trophy voting.

Other Metro notes:

  • On the flip side of the New York rivalry, the Islanders are getting a boost between the pipes. Andrew Gross of Newsday reports goaltender Ilya Sorokin was a full participant in New York’s practice today for the first time in camp. The Islanders will likely ramp up Sorokin’s training relatively quickly as he recovers from offseason back surgery. He could even feature in the team’s game tomorrow night against the Rangers. The organization is hopeful for a bounceback campaign from their number one netminder after Sorokin posted a 16-point decrease in save percentage last year compared to his previous career average.
  • Again from Gross – another player returning to the ice for the Islanders is depth forward Hudson Fasching (X Link). He’s been nursing a lower-body injury that has kept him off the ice since September 27th. Because of his injury, he’s only suited up in one preseason game so far and will now be able to suit up in one more before the regular season kicks off on October 10th.
  • A panel of writers from the NHL has made their prediction for the Calder Memorial Trophy winner for the 2024-25 NHL season. The panel predicts Philadelphia Flyers’ youngster Matvei Michkov will take home the award by season’s end. Still, he will have some tough competition from San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini and Dallas Stars’ Logan Stankoven. It’s tough to argue with the panel on their choice as Michkov already has three goals and seven points in four preseason contests.

Pacific Notes: Zegras, Terry, Kartye

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The Anaheim Ducks are looking for a bounceback year from forward Trevor Zegras after an offseason of trade rumors surrounding the youngster. In a lengthy interview with James Murphy of RG.org Anaheim’s head coach, Greg Cronin publicly called out Zegras to add another level to his game.

“It’s like anything. You learn to ride a bike, and you’ve never ridden a bike before, and you get up, and you gotta keep riding it until you learn how to conquer it. The competition for him hasn’t been at the top of the value system – and I don’t mean he doesn’t compete at all – but does he compete in those areas where he’s not really comfortable competing? Like net-front battles or wall battles. He’s so skilled and talented that he can use his stick as a tool to create offense. So, we’re just asking him to be a little stiffer in those areas I identified“.

It may be a make-or-break year for Zegras as the young forward has struggled to respond positively to Cronin’s system. Zegras was limited by injuries in the 2023-24 season but only scored six goals and 15 points in 31 contests. The 2024-25 season will mark a transitionary period for the Ducks as the organization’s young prospects are fully expected to carry most of the responsibility. Zegras’ competition level in the upcoming season, or lack thereof, may lead Anaheim to pull the trigger on a trade.

Other Pacific notes:

  • The Ducks will be without their first-line right-winger for the next few days as Derek Lee of The Hockey News reports Troy Terry is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. There shouldn’t be any concern about his availability for Anaheim’s regular season opener but he has not been on the ice for the past few days. Terry has been one of the most consistent forwards for the Ducks during their rebuild finishing first or second on the team in scoring over the last three years.
  • There are no concerns for Seattle Kraken forward Tye Kartye who took a maintenance day this afternoon while dealing with a minor ailment (X Link). Kartye is developing into a strong depth scorer for the Kraken after winning the AHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2022-23. He finished his rookie campaign last year with 11 goals and 20 points in 77 games and is again expected to fill an important role in Seattle’s bottom-six.

Patrik Laine Out Two To Three Months With Knee Sprain

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In a somewhat positive development for Patrik Laine and the Montreal Canadiens, the organization announced he would be out for two to three months with a knee sprain and would not require surgery. There was some speculation that Laine may have had damage to his anterior cruciate ligament but it appears that he and the Canadiens have avoided the worst-case scenario.

Laine’s injury came during the team’s game on Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs when he was on the receiving end of a knee-on-knee collision with Toronto depth forward Cédric Paré. He laid on the ice several minutes after the hit, could not skate under his power, and left the game on crutches.

It’s still an unfortunate turn of events for Laine who was looking to rebuild his career after an offseason trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The former second-overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft dealt with multiple injuries last year with the Blue Jackets limiting to only 18 games before finishing the season in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.

He was expected to be a major fixture in the Canadiens’ top six this season but will now have to wait until at least December to make an impact. He’s only two years removed from scoring 48 goals and 108 points in 111 games in Columbus from 2021-2023. If he hypothetically returns to the ice at the soonest possible date on December 1st he will still be able to suit up in 59 games for Montreal if he stays healthy for the remainder of the year.

It marks the second major injury to the Canadiens organization in the last few hours with the team also announcing defensive prospect David Reinbacher would miss most of the 2024-25 season after knee surgery. Laine’s luck avoiding a similar injury needing surgery likely saved his first year in Montreal.

The team still has a sizeable hole to fill on the right side of the second line. Familiar faces such as Brendan Gallagher or Josh Anderson will most likely fill that role until Laine is ready to return. No matter who the Canadiens pick to fill the newfound void they will find difficulty in internally replacing Laine’s ability to put the puck in the net.

Atlantic Notes: Knies, Marchand, Lindholm, Zub, Jones

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The choice by Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube to make forward Matthew Knies an alternate captain for the team on Saturday night has led some to believe the organization is looking to keep him around for the long haul. In Monday’s ’32 Thoughts episode with Elliotte Friedman, the host said, “I think (Matthew) Knies is on the precipice of being a really long-term important piece of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s heading into the last year of his ELC and I think there have been some conversations about it. I don’t know how much or in-depth they have really talked about it, but there have been some rumors that there have been some conversations“.

It’s not a shocking report by any stretch of the imagination as Knies has been a top prospect for the Maple Leafs over the past several years. The former 57th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft finally became a full-time player in Toronto last season scoring 15 goals and 35 points in 80 games. He’s a popular candidate to play the wing with captain Auston Matthews and on the Maple Leafs’ second powerplay unit.

There haven’t been any specifics regarding extension conversations between Toronto and Knies but Elliotte’s report indicates the team would like to lock him down for quite some time. The team may want to get started on that sooner rather than later as Knies’ asking price will inevitably rise if he plays well on a line with Matthews for much of the year.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • According to the team, the Boston Bruins are improving on the injury front as forwards Brad Marchand and Elias Lindholm will return to the lineup tonight against the Flyers. Marchand had been recovering from several surgeries in the offseason and is making good on his promise that he would be ready for the regular season opener. Lindholm has spent the last few days practicing in a non-contact jersey for the Bruins with an undisclosed injury but it appears his ailment is now behind him.
  • Similarly to the Bruins, the Ottawa Senators are also receiving positive news on the injury front with defenseman Artem Zub returning to the lineup this evening (X Link). Zub’s been dealing with a lower-body injury for much of the preseason but it appears he will be ready for the regular season barring any setbacks. The Russian defenseman will now have three games to get back to game speed as he’s failed to appear in a contest up to this point.
  • Moving back to Boston — Conor Ryan of The Boston Globe reports forward Max Jones is getting closer to returning to the lineup. Jones is another Bruins forward that has failed to appear in a preseason contest but he should be ready for the regular season. Boston signed Jones this summer after being non-tendered by the Anaheim Ducks to serve in the team’s bottom-six. He’s coming off one of his better offensive seasons with the Ducks scoring five goals and 15 points in 52 games last year.

Pacific Notes: Sharks Roster, Sharks Injuries, Karlsson

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The San Jose Sharks have collectively cut 12 players from their training camp roster today bringing their total bodies down to 38. In an earlier article, Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News broke down some of the remaining camp battles on the roster with three games remaining in the preseason.

The organization’s forward core appears locked up with the remaining battles set to determine the 13th and 14th forwards on the opening night roster. Pashelka argues that forward Klim Kostin has already earned himself a spot for the regular season as the team would like to avoid putting him on waivers. The final spot remains a big question for San Jose. Will the team opt for an enforcer like Givani Smith to protect the youngsters when needed or look to add more available talent in Ethan Cardwell or Daniil Gushchin? Guschin likely has the inside edge if the team chooses the latter after scoring 20 goals and 54 points in 56 games for AHL San Jose last year.

The Sharks have a bigger question on defense with notable injuries to start the year (more on that later). Jack Thompson, acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning and debuting last season, should be the odds-on-favorite for the seventh defenseman position by the end of training camp. Pashelka warns that even if Thompson represents the youngster with the most professional experience up to this point he still needs to play most nights rather than sit as a healthy scratch if he does make the roster.

Other Pacific notes:

  • Pashelka gave a few updates on the injured members of the Sharks’ defensive core earlier today. He shares that defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Shakir Mukhamadullin skated today and are still considered day-to-day. Still, their regular season opener availability is questionable. Circumstances appear to be different between the pipes with Pashelka also sharing that Yaroslav Askarov practiced with the team “for a little bit” today. Askarov has not practiced with the team once since the start of training camp a few weeks ago and his presence on the ice is a positive development.
  • Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson was not on the ice for practice again today and there appears to be a growing concern he may not be ready for opening night (X Link). It’s been over a week since he took the ice but the organization remains hopeful he will be healthy for the team’s regular-season opener on October 9th. Karlsson is set to be the second-line center for the Golden Knights this season although Nicolas Roy has been filling that void in the lineup for the last week.

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