Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/19/21

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 Arizona Coyotes have recalled goaltender David Tendeck all the way from the ECHL, assigning him to the taxi squad. Aaron Ness has been moved down to the AHL to make room. Antti Raanta did not skate today after being listed as day-to-day yesterday, meaning the team needed an extra goaltender. Tendeck, 21, has a .913 save percentage through 13 games for the Rapid City Rush.
  • Brendan Guhle remains on injured reserve for the Anaheim Ducks, but the club has assigned him to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls on a Long-Term Injury Conditioning Loan. Joining him in the minors is fellow defender Kodie Curran, who has been demoted from the Ducks’ taxi squad.

North Division

Central Division

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have assigned Liam Foudy and Adam Clendening to the AHL, recalling Gavin Bayreuther to the taxi squad. Foudy has just three points in 12 games this season and doesn’t look quite ready to contribute on a nightly basis. After only turning 21 a few weeks ago, he has plenty of time to continue his development.
  • In their daily move, the Nashville Predators have recalled Ben Harpur from the taxi squad, re-assigning Michael McCarron and Eeli Tolvanen in the process. The team has fliped these three back and forth almost every day for the last week.

East Division

This page will be updated throughout the day.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/18/21

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 are today’s results:

Colorado –  Samuel GirardHunter Miska
Minnesota – Andrew Hammond*
New Jersey – Nico Hischier
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil
Ottawa – Ryan Dzingel
Philadelphia – Justin BraunClaude Giroux, Travis KonecnyScott LaughtonOskar Lindblom, Jakub Voracek
Vegas – Tomas Nosek

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: Andreas Athanasiou, Los Angeles Kings; Morgan Frost, Philadelphia Flyers, Jonas Brodin, Minnesota Wild; Victor Rask, Minnesota Wild; Carson Soucy, Minnesota Wild; Cam Talbot, Minnesota Wild

Hammond is the only new player today, added in the wake of the rest of Minnesota’s names coming off the list. It’s a good sign that names like Brodin are coming off, but at least a little concerning that another new name has been added. Los Angeles finally has no one on the list after Blake Lizotte and Athanasiou have come off the last few days, and the Flyers list has shrunk again as well.

It seems things are trending in the right direction. Hopefully, it can stay that way.

*denotes new addition

Speculation Swirling Around Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are losing again. Even with the offseason excitement of pairing Taylor Hall with Jack Eichel, the team is at the bottom of the East Division standings, sitting 4-6-2 with just 31 goals in 12 games. That MVP-caliber pair has produced just three goals combined, including just a single tally at even-strength. Add in the zero goals that Jeff Skinner has provided and the Sabres have just three for the combined $27MM cap hit of that trio. With that kind of offensive ineptitude from their highest-paid players, speculation about trades was bound to spark up.

Today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet joined The Instigators on WGR550 in Buffalo and spent nearly 15 minutes discussing the future of Skinner. The 28-year-old forward has six years left after this season on his eight-year $72MM contract but has just 24 points in the 71 games since he signed it. He has just one point this season and has had his ice time reduced dramatically. It’s not clear at all how Buffalo gets out from under the Skinner contract, but Friedman doesn’t believe Buffalo should be trying to attach draft picks as a sweetener in a potential trade.

It was the next topic that really raised some eyebrows though, as the conversation turned to a potential trade of Eichel. Friedman simply stated “yes” when asked if a trade of the Sabres superstar was possible, before going on to explain his thoughts:

Look, we know that this was something that came up last summer. I don’t know that it was ever close. The feeling that I’ve always had is that Buffalo knew Eichel was unhappy. They asked Eichel to take a step last year and he really did, we’ve talked about how much of a step Eichel took last year. Still, when it came to team success it just didn’t really go anywhere. Now you look at where it is this year, you know he’s going to be frustrated, and there were conversations last year. But what I was told was, the Sabres just said ‘we are not ready to do this. We are not ready.’ Teams made offers, it was communicated that he was restless. I don’t think he ever asked for a trade, I don’t think it got that far. But he was restless and teams knew it. The Sabres took some offers and said ‘no we’re not ready to do this.’

It’s clear that there would be interest in Eichel, but a trade involving a $10MM-per-year contract would certainly not be simple. The 24-year-old center is signed through the 2025-26 season. Friedman notes that the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings could both potentially put together packages for Eichel from the number of assets in the organization, though doesn’t imply they have made an offer at any point.

One important difference between Skinner and Eichel, other than the obvious performance levels, is that the former owns a full no-move clause. Eichel’s NMC doesn’t kick in until the 2022-23 season, the year he would have normally been eligible for unrestricted free agency (players before that age are not allowed to include any trade protection in their contracts). That means trading Skinner would have the additional hurdle of getting his blessing, while Eichel technically doesn’t have to be included in the process.

Still, the only way the Sabres would be moving on from their franchise center is if he wanted it, and though Friedman suggests there was unrest in the summer, Eichel has never publicly stated he is looking for a change. In fact, he has done quite the opposite, by acknowledging his frustration but reaffirming his commitment to the Sabres organization many times. That feeling can change in a heartbeat though, and by the end of this season, Eichel will have played more than 400 NHL games without ever sniffing the postseason. Buffalo hasn’t even had a winning season with him, going 160-194-55 in his five-plus-year career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

ECHL’s Brampton Beast Cease Operations

The COVID-19 situation had ECHL teams in Canada cancel their season and now at least one of them will shut the doors for good. The Brampton Beast has announced they will cease operations effective today. In the release, the team explains that it wasn’t just a one-season postponement that killed them. Instead, president and GM Cary Kaplan described it as “three seasons of COVID,” noting that the 2019-20 season was shut down early, the 2020-21 season canceled completely and the continued uncertainty preventing them from scheduling a 2021-22 season.

Kaplan released this statement:

From the bottom of our hearts, we want to offer an enormous thank you to the City of Brampton, Mayor Patrick Brown and Brampton City Council for supporting us with open arms, to the hundreds of thousands of Fans and sponsors who we truly worked for and tried our best to exceed your expectations, to all the amazing players, staff and coaches who gave their blood, sweat and tears for the Beast, to our three owners who invested in our Vision, we are very proud of the lasting memories that we provided.

The Beast had been affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, and most recently the Ottawa Senators over the seven-year run of the franchise.

This announcement comes on the heels of two expansion teams in the ECHL set for 2021-22 and another joining in 2022-23. Coralville, Iowa, and Trois-Rivieres, Quebec will be the two teams joining next season, while a team in Savannah, Georgia is scheduled to join the following year.

NHL Postpones Another Dallas Stars Game

The NHL had already postponed three Dallas Stars games due to inclement weather and has now added a fourth. Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning has been postponed as a result of “ongoing power issues” caused by the weather in the Dallas area.

The league is now working to re-schedule the four games missed, but it now means the Stars will have a pause between February 13 and 22 after already starting the season late. The team has only completed 12 games so far and is on a five-game losing streak after a hot start. The Stars will have even less practice and recovery time down the stretch as they try to fit in the final 44 games.

The Lightning meanwhile are now off from Feb 15 to 22, as they’ll next take the ice on Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Tampa Bay has had several postponements of their own, though not because of any internal outbreak, and have only completed 14 games. Unlike the Stars though, the Lightning have been able to battle through their odd schedule and are 10-3-1 on the year, still looking like the powerhouse that won the Stanley Cup last summer.

The list of postponed games for one reason or another is quite long already:

Read more

Winnipeg Jets Claim Eric Comrie

The Winnipeg Jets just won’t let Eric Comrie go. According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the team has claimed the goaltender off waivers once again, bringing him back to the organization where he has played most of his career. Comrie ended up playing just one game with the New Jersey Devils after being claimed by them earlier this season, posting a .909 save percentage in the process.

If the Jets were the only team to put in a claim, they can now move Comrie directly to the taxi squad or minor leagues. If not, he’ll have to stay on the active roster until he does clear (Update: The Jets have indeed assigned him to the taxi squad). Of course, in either case, Comrie will have to face a quarantine as he returns to Canada. It’s not the first time he’s dealt with this merry-go-round waiver situation, as he was claimed, traded, and then claimed again last season. All the while he has only played in nine career NHL games, but the 25-year-old continues to post strong numbers at the minor league level and obviously has interest from around the NHL.

For Winnipeg, the question now becomes whether the waive a different goaltender. The team is currently carrying three on the active roster, with Connor Hellebuyck backed up by both Laurent Brossoit and Anton Forsberg. Forsberg was a waiver claim himself after the Jets lost Comrie, meaning he might end up back on the wire in the coming days.

Eric Comrie, Connor Carrick Placed On Waivers

Feb 18: Though Comrie was claimed back by the Jets, Carrick cleared and can now be reassigned to the taxi squad or minor leagues.

Feb 17: According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the New Jersey Devils have placed both Eric Comrie and Connor Carrick on waivers, now that they are back in action and most of their players are off the COVID Protocol list.

Comrie, 25, played just a single game for the Devils after they claimed him from the Winnipeg Jets earlier this season. Though frustrating, this isn’t a new experience for the goaltender. Last season, Comrie was put on waivers by the Jets, claimed by the Arizona Coyotes, traded to the Detroit Red Wings, then claimed back by the Jets when he ended up on waivers again. This year looks like it might be a similar merry-go-round, as several teams still need some depth goaltending and could claim him.

Carrick meanwhile will likely go unclaimed as every other skater has this season, though that doesn’t mean he can’t play at the NHL level. The 26-year-old defenseman has 231 career games under his belt but has suited up just once this season.

One of the biggest reasons Carrick would slip through is his contract, which carries a $1.5MM cap hit this season. He’s scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer and it seems unlikely that he’ll be able to secure that kind of salary for 2021-22.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/18/21

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

North Division

  • The Montreal Canadiens have recalled Cale Fleury from the AHL, sending Brandon Baddock down in his place. Fleury will join the team’s taxi squad after recording two points in his first three minor league games this season. The 22-year-old played in 41 games for Montreal last season but was pushed down the depth chart by a few new additions.
  • Matthew Peca has been recalled from the taxi squad to the Ottawa Senators and it’s a high-priced veteran that will be taking his place. Artem Anisimov is now on the taxi squad after clearing waivers earlier this month.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have recalled Ashton Sautner to the taxi squad, sending Jack Rathbone to the AHL in the process. The Canucks are back in action tomorrow night against the Winnipeg Jets.
  • The Calgary Flames sent Brett Ritchie and Oliver Kylington to the taxi squad while moving Byron Froese to the AHL, notes Ryan Pike of the Sporting News.  Froese has already been recalled back to the roster after the 4 PM CT deadline that determines whether the player counts against the cap that day.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled Nic Petan and Joseph Woll from the taxi squad, per CapFriendly, with the latter coming via an emergency roster exception recall with Frederik Andersen getting the night off.  Petan has an assist in four games this season.

Central Division

East Division

This page will be updated throughout the day.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/17/21

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 are today’s results:

Colorado –  Samuel GirardHunter Miska
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou
Minnesota –  Jonas BrodinVictor RaskCarson SoucyCam Talbot
New Jersey – Nico Hischier
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil
Ottawa – Ryan Dzingel
Philadelphia – Justin BraunMorgan FrostClaude Giroux, Travis KonecnyScott LaughtonOskar Lindblom, Jakub Voracek
Vegas – Tomas Nosek

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:  Casey Mittelstadt, Buffalo Sabres; Tyson Jost, Colorado Avalanche; Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche; Brad Hunt, Minnesota Wild; Dmitry Kulikov, New Jersey Devils; Travis ZajacNew Jersey Devils

Once again, there were no new additions to the list. The Sabres are now completely free after having a substantial outbreak and the Avalanche also have their captain out of the protocol. Things continue to trend in the right direction.

The Devils, who once had 19 players on the list at once, now have just Hischier held out and should be able to get their season back on track.