Taxi Squad Shuffle: 03/17/21
There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day:
West Division
- The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled Oscar Dansk to the taxi squad while sending both Dylan Ferguson and Logan Thompson back to the minor leagues. The Golden Knights are getting Robin Lehner back to once again give them one of the most impressive goaltending tandems in the league.
- The Los Angeles Kings have activated Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Jonathan Quick from injured reserve, meaning Troy Grosenick is on his way back to the taxi squad. Tobias Bjornfot has also been recalled from the taxi squad as the team prepares for action tonight.
- Ivan Prosvetov has been reassigned to the taxi squad by the Arizona Coyotes. The move implies that Antti Raanta‘s injury absence will be short-lived.
North Division
- The Winnipeg Jets have reassigned Eric Comrie and Ville Heinola from the AHL to the taxi squad, now that Anton Forsberg has been lost to waivers. The team needed another goaltender and Comrie is the perfect option as a number three.
- Though they aren’t playing for another few days, the Toronto Maple Leafs recalled Alex Galchenyuk, Timothy Liljegren and Alexander Barabanov to the taxi squad. Kenny Agostino and Calle Rosen have both been assigned to the AHL.
- The Ottawa Senators have recalled Filip Gustavsson from the taxi squad on an emergency basis, while Matt Murray remains injured. Until Forsberg gets to Ottawa and through the COVID protocols (likely seven days, depending on how his travel plans and testing go), the team will be going with a very young and very inexperienced tandem.
- With Zack Kassian activated from the injured reserve, fellow forwards James Neal and Patrick Russell have been reassigned to the taxi squad by the Edmonton Oilers. Young defenseman Evan Bouchard has also been recalled to the active roster.
Central Division
- After clearing waivers earlier today Mikhail Grigorenko has been moved to the taxi squad by the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 26-year-old forward has seemingly lost his spot in the lineup, last playing on February 23.
- The Detroit Red Wings have assigned Frans Nielsen and Evgeny Svechnikov back to the taxi squad, given they don’t play tonight. The team won yesterday against the Carolina Hurricanes, one of the more impressive results of the season.
East Division
- The New Jersey Devils have returned Nicholas Merkley and Jesper Boqvist to the AHL for the time being. The Devils don’t play today after securing their ninth win of the season last night but have three in a row against the surging Pittsburgh Penguins coming up.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled Andy Andreoff and Connor Bunnaman from the taxi squad, an interesting move on game day. It seems likely that at least one of them will be in the lineup tonight, though it’s not entirely clear who will be coming out.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Top-10 Finalists Announced For 2021 Hobey Baker
The college hockey season may have looked a little different this year, but award voting will go on anyway. Today, the ten finalists for the Hobey Baker Award were announced. The trophy is given to the top NCAA player in the country and has an impressive line of winners over the past few years. In 2014, Johnny Gaudreau took home the award as a junior for Boston College, followed by Jack Eichel in his only year for Boston University in 2015. Jimmy Vesey, Will Butcher, and Adam Gaudette don’t bring quite the same impact but are still NHL regulars after winning from 2016-18.
2019’s winner was University of Massachusetts defenseman Cale Makar, who has gone on to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie and is now dominating the league with the Colorado Avalanche. Last year the award was given to Scott Perunovich, but his NHL debut has been postponed thanks to a major shoulder injury.
The award also has several top NHL alumni in its small fraternity, including Neal Broten, Tom Kurvers, Paul Kariya, Chris Drury, Ryan Miller, and Brendan Morrison. With that group behind them, this year’s winner is certainly not someone to take lightly.
Earlier this year, more than 50 players from the NCAA ranks were nominated for the award, and today that number has been reduced to just ten. These ten players will be narrowed to just three, a process that anyone can be a part of by participating in the fan vote. Votes will be added to the decision from a selection committee to produce three finalists, from which a winner will be crowned.
The top-10 finalists are as follows, with the NHL organization who owns their draft rights in parenthesis:
Shane Pinto, University of North Dakota (Ottawa Senators)
Matthew Boldy, Boston College (Minnesota Wild)
David Farrance, Boston University (Nashville Predators)
Cole Caufield, University of Wisconsin (Montreal Canadiens)
Dylan Holloway, University of Wisconsin (Edmonton Oilers)
Spencer Knight, Boston College (Florida Panthers)
Jack LaFontaine, University of Minnesota (Carolina Hurricanes)
Dryden McKay, Minnesota State University-Mankato (undrafted)
Keith Petruzzelli, Quinnipiac University (Detroit Red Wings)
Odeen Tufto, Quinnipiac University (undrafted)
The three Hattrick Finalists will be named on April 1, though Caufield is expected to run away with the award. The 20-year-old sniper had quite the season, leading the nation in scoring with 28 goals and 49 points in just 30 games.
Anton Forsberg Claimed By Ottawa Senators
For the third time this season, Anton Forsberg has been claimed off waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. This time he is headed to the Ottawa Senators where the team is dealing with injuries to both Matt Murray and Marcus Hogberg. Forsberg is coming from the Winnipeg Jets, meaning that while he will have to face some COVID protocols, he won’t have to deal with the full two-week quarantine reserved for players coming to Canada from the U.S.
The 28-year-old Forsberg hasn’t actually played a single minute of action this season, despite now being on his fourth team. Originally signing a one-year, $700K contract with the Edmonton Oilers in October, he was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes at the start of the season. Two days later, after Alex Nedeljkovic cleared waivers, Forsberg was back on the wire. His NHL experience once again landed him a claim, this tie from the Jets, who then needed to wait for him to quarantine (though, he never actually did leave Canada during his short stop with the Hurricanes). He’s been with the Jets since the middle of January but failed to play in a single game for the team.
That opportunity may come with the Senators, who have been forced to go with Joey Daccord for the last several games. The 24-year-old rookie won his first NHL game against the Toronto Maple Leafs after Murray suffered an injury in warmup, but has otherwise struggled to keep the puck out of the net. In seven appearances, Daccord is 1-3-1 with an .896 save percentage.
There’s no guarantee that Forsberg would fair better than that in Ottawa, but at least he comes with some experience at the NHL level. In 48 career games he has posted a .901 save percentage and actually appeared in 35 games during the 2017-18 season.
Jimmy Vesey Claimed By Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks have added a forward to the mix, claiming Jimmy Vesey off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The 27-year-old winger is earning just $900K on a one-year contract and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Though he will face a quarantine of some sort, it will not be the two-week period that is reserved for players entering Canada from the U.S. Vancouver is actually in Ottawa to play the Senators, meaning he can easily be picked up without having to take a commercial flight.
Vesey wasn’t much of anything for the Maple Leafs, who gave him ample opportunity to establish himself in the top six playing next to talent like John Tavares and William Nylander. He recorded just five goals and seven points in his 30 games and had been recently demoted to the fourth line. Though he had shown a bit of jump in that role, losing a player that had logged fewer than ten minutes in each of his last six games certainly won’t hurt that much.
That is especially true if there is an easy replacement, and it appears there is. Both Wayne Simmonds and Alex Galchenyuk joined Maple Leafs practice today in regular sweaters, perhaps indicating they’ll both be in the lineup when the team is back in action this weekend. Simmonds has been out for weeks after breaking his wrist, while Galchenyuk was brought in as a project and rebuilt his confidence at the minor league level. In six games with the Toronto Marlies, Galchenuk scored eight points; now he’ll have to show he can be a reliable contributor at the NHL level.
For Vancouver, claiming Vesey doesn’t come with much risk given his low salary and expiring contract. Perhaps the Canucks can unlock some hidden offensive potential, or use him as a competent bottom-six option. Even Vesey’s five-goal performance this season would be seen as successful when compared with some of the disappointing numbers in Vancouver, including Adam Gaudette, Jay Beagle, Jake Virtanen, and Antoine Roussel, who have combined for eight goals in 114 appearances.
Several Players Placed On Waivers
March 17: Vesey and Forsberg were claimed by the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators respectively, but both Byron and Grigorenko have cleared. The latter two can now be placed on the taxi squad or sent to the minor leagues.
March 16: Several players have been placed on waivers today, including Paul Byron of the Montreal Canadiens. Byron is joined by Jimmy Vesey of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Anton Forsberg of the Winnipeg Jets, and Mikhail Grigorenko of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Byron has already experienced this once this season, clearing waivers a month ago. Since then he had played more than ten games, meaning if the Canadiens want to place him on the taxi squad he’ll have to clear again. It’s been a disastrous two seasons for the 31-year-old forward, with just 17 points since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That includes just two goals in 27 games this season, a far cry from the player who was one of the most effective even-strength scorers in the league just a few years ago. With the development of other younger players on the Montreal roster, Byron finds himself either buried in the lineup or on the sidelines watching. His $3.4MM cap hit (through 2022-23) certainly makes him a tough target to claim.
Vesey hasn’t seen waivers before, but it doesn’t come as much of a surprise at this point. The 27-year-old forward has seven points in 30 games for the Maple Leafs and has been relegated to the fourth line in recent weeks. He has only cracked the 10-minute mark three times in his last ten games and played just 4:41 a few nights ago. With the Maple Leafs expecting Wayne Simmonds back soon and facing a delicate cap situation, Vesey’s time has come to be moved to the taxi squad.
Forsberg was already claimed off waivers twice this season, first by the Carolina Hurricanes and then by the Jets just a few days later. Now he faces another round that could change his destination as teams are still struggling to find NHL experience in net. Injuries all across the league make goaltenders like Forsberg valuable, if only because he could enter an NHL game in a pinch. It’s not like that’s actually happened this season though, through the first two months Forsberg hasn’t played a single game.
Grigorenko is an interesting name, after signing a one-year $1.2MM deal with the Blue Jackets as a return to the NHL. The 12th overall pick in 2012, Grigorenko left the NHL in 2017 to return to Russia and play in the KHL. After developing his game further there, his return was supposed to be a strong addition for Columbus. Unfortunately, with just seven points in 18 games and limited minutes, it hasn’t really worked out. Perhaps another team believes they can get the best out of him down the stretch, but a return to the KHL seems possible after this season concludes.
Anders Lee To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery
The decision has been made on Anders Lee, who will undergo ACL surgery this week and is out for the rest of the season. The New York Islanders captain got tangled with New Jersey Devils forward Pavel Zacha in a game last week and had to be helped off the ice.
It shouldn’t shock to find out that Lee is done for the year, but it certainly will spark some discussion on where the Islanders go from here. While Mathew Barzal might be the team’s most dynamic offensive player, there’s no question that Lee is New York’s most effective goal-scorer. His 12 tallies are still tied for the team lead even three games into his absence and he has a 40-goal campaign in his past. The 30-year-old was signed to a seven-year, $49MM deal in 2019 because of that goal-scoring, making him the most expensive player on the team at the time (his $7MM cap hit has since been matched by Barzal).
That cap hit is the news here though, as Lee was already placed on long-term injured reserve and without any risk of him returning this season, the Islanders can now use the added space for a deadline upgrade. New York was already well into LTIR thanks to Johnny Boychuk‘s early retirement due to injury, meaning there is really no penalty for the team spending even more now that Lee is on the shelf. With more than $5.5MM in space, the Islanders could acquire quite an asset for their playoff run.
Immediately, the team will be linked to a player like Kyle Palmieri given GM Lou Lamoriello’s familiarity with him. In yesterday’s 31 Thoughts column by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the insider mentioned that the New Jersey Devils have “begun conversations” about Palmieri’s future, implying that a trade could be coming. Friedman even lists the Islanders as a potential landing spot.
It won’t be just Palmieri though. Every rental forward on the market could be linked to the Islanders, especially after Lamoriello admitted to reporters including Arthur Staple of The Athletic that they were looking for scoring wingers even before Lee’s injury. Taylor Hall is still sitting in Buffalo as well, and the coach that drew him to the club in free agency was fired this morning. Other options with more term include Rickard Rakell, Zach Parise, and even perhaps someone like Jake Debrusk.
No matter what it does for the Islanders at the deadline, it’s hard to see Lee’s season end in this way. He is expected to be ready for the 2021-22 campaign.
Buffalo Sabres Fire Ralph Krueger
After another loss last night took it to 12 in a row, the Buffalo Sabres finally did what everyone expected. Ralph Krueger has been relieved of his duties as head coach. The Sabres lost 3-2 to the New Jersey Devils and sit dead last in the NHL at 6-18-4. They have been shutout as many times as they’ve won and there appears to be a clear lack of effort from some of the players.
The Sabres will have Don Granato as interim head coach and he will be joined by assistants Matt Ellis and Dan Girardi. The search for a new head coach begins immediately, though GM Kevyn Adams would not put a timeline on it.
Amazingly, as John Vogl of The Athletic explains, players in Buffalo and those who had previously played for Krueger have expressed how much they loved playing for him. That love didn’t come through on the ice this season for the Sabres and the team was forced to make a change, though whether it will actually result in a better effort is still up for debate.
The Sabres will still be on the hook for the rest of Krueger’s contract unless another NHL team wishes to hire him. Many have speculated that is why the team took so long to make the change with finances so tight during this season. Hired at the start of the 2019-20 season, Krueger’s time in Buffalo will end with a 36-49-12 record and not even a sniff of the postseason.
Chicago Blackhawks Willing To Take On Cap At Deadline
If you want to make a deal in today’s NHL, there are several important hurdles to get past. The most important one may be the salary cap situation around the league, which is squeezed as tightly as ever after the cap ceiling stayed at $81.5MM. That number isn’t expected to go up for the next several seasons, meaning teams are hesitant to take on any money this season or into the future.
That is, other than the Chicago Blackhawks.
Two different reports have emerged this evening, from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Frank Seravalli of TSN respectively, explaining that the Blackhawks have let the rest of the league know they are willing to take on some bad cap at the deadline to facilitate moves or acquire assets. After moving Brent Seabrook to long-term injured reserve and admitting his career is over the team now has more than $20MM in potential cap space that they could use this season. A good portion of that can’t be used if Jonathan Toews is going to come back at any point, but that still leaves the Blackhawks with more than enough room to play matchmaker at the deadline if they want.
The Blackhawks are familiar with this strategy, given they used the Toronto Maple Leafs in a similar fashion last season to complete the Robin Lehner trade. The Maple Leafs were already deep into LTIR by the time the trade deadline rolled around, so they were used as a pit stop to unload part of Lehner’s remaining cap hit so the Vegas Golden Knights could fit him in. The Maple Leafs received a fifth-round pick for their trouble, but depending on what it is Chicago is taking on, the return could be even greater this time around.
As we discussed recently, the Blackhawks are in a peculiar situation this season, sitting somewhere between a buyer and seller. The team is currently in a playoff spot thanks to some surprising performances, but aren’t that far removed from declaring a short rebuild. It’s hard to imagine them believing they are really capable of contending for the Stanley Cup or even getting out of the Central Division given how strong the top three teams look, but stripping things down when you’re in a playoff spot also isn’t fair to a team that has performed so admirably this season.
By doing moves like the one detailed above, acting as a middle-man for teams, or a dumping ground for bad cap, the Blackhawks can give this group a chance to compete while also adding assets for the future.
Nico Hischier Undergoes Surgery
The New Jersey Devils have finally given an update on the health of captain Nico Hischier, announcing that he underwent successful surgery to repair the frontal sinus fracture that he suffered on February 27. He has been on injured reserve since March 4 and is still expected to be out for the next three weeks. Hischier has cleared the concussion protocol from the event.
It’s been a tough season for the 22-year-old Hischier, despite being handed the captaincy in February. He started the year on the injured reserve list thanks to an offseason leg injury and has had two different stints on the COVID Protocol list. This latest injury, suffered when a P.K. Subban slapshot deflected up a stick and into his face, means he has played just five games this season. Three more weeks means he’ll return with only about 20 games in the Devils’ season and when they’re completely out of the playoff race.
It was supposed to be another strong development year for the young core in New Jersey, but thanks to injury Hischier hasn’t been part of it. While Pavel Zacha, Jack Hughes, and Ty Smith lead the way, the captain has had to watch from the sidelines. When he returns, you can bet Hischier will be eager to contribute and show that his ceiling is much higher than the 50-point pace he’s shown so far in his career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 03/16/21
Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 Protocol. Here is the list so far:
NY Islanders – Noah Dobson
NY Rangers – Phil Di Giuseppe, Pavel Buchnevich, Adam Fox
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: Kyle Turris, Edmonton Oilers; Will Butcher, New Jersey Devils
No new additions so far today and a couple of names come off the list. Importantly, Turris ended up being the only Oiler that hit the list. The North Division hasn’t had a single game postponed so far, a record that the league would obviously like to keep intact as long as possible.
*denotes new addition