Minor Transactions: 02/19/19
The NHL is busy tonight with nine games on the schedule, including a Central Division battle between the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars. With the St. Louis Blues on a ten game winning streak, the Stars are just trying to keep pace in the playoff race while the Predators try to hold onto second spot. As teams prepare for that action we’ll be right here keeping track of all the minor moves.
- The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Tucker Poolman as Dustin Byfuglien deals with another injury. Byfuglien will miss the next few games, meaning Poolman is up to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman. The 25-year old has played 30 games for the Manitoba Moose this year, but is still waiting to make his season debut in the NHL.
- Ashton Sautner has been recalled by the Vancouver Canucks as they deal with several injuries to their defense corps. Sautner, 24, played in five games for the Canucks last year but has spent this entire season in the minor leagues.
- With Victor Rask moved to injured reserve, the Minnesota Wild have recalled Cal O’Reilly from the AHL. O’Reilly has 38 points in 43 games with the Iowa Wild this season and has long been an exceptional minor league player. The 32-year old has yet to make his season debut for Minnesota. UPDATE: O’Reilly has been sent back to the minor leagues already.
- Dale Weise is on his way back to the minor leagues, this time to make room on the roster for Paul Byron. The Montreal Canadiens have activated Byron from injured reserve, a huge boost to their team as they search for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
- Blake Coleman has been activated from injured reserve by the New Jersey Devils, meaning the end of the run for Nick Lappin. The Devils sent Lappin back to the AHL today after just three games in the NHL.
- Jan Rutta has been recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning as Victor Hedman deals with a minor injury. Mathieu Joseph has been returned to the AHL to make room on the roster for another defenseman. Hedman is not expected to be out long.
Nick Jensen Still Drawing Trade Interest
The Detroit Red Wings are out of the playoff race for this season but they are still a team to watch over the next week. Several potential trade pieces reside on their team including Nick Jensen who continues to draw interest from around the league. Brian Lawton of NHL Network tweets that interest is increasing of late, with the Red Wings asking for a second-round pick or more in exchange for the defenseman. Teams are apparently only offering a third-round selection so far.
Jensen, 28, is experiencing a breakout season for the Red Wings and happens to be the kind of talented right-handed defenseman that almost everyone is looking for at the deadline. After two seasons of mostly third-pairing work, Jensen is logging nearly 21 minutes a night for Detroit and has 15 points in 59 games. Those numbers come with positive possession statistics and a supremely inexpensive $812.5K full season cap hit, making him a desirable asset for any playoff run.
The Red Wings already own ten selections in the upcoming draft, and could potentially add several more with trades of Jensen, Gustav Nyquist and Luke Glendening among others. The team is already well on their way to a rebuild with a young core surrounding franchise player Dylan Larkin, and could advance it even more with a strong trade deadline. Last year GM Ken Holland secured four draft picks in trade by sending out Tomas Tatar and Petr Mrazek, and several more at the 2017 deadline. If that trend continues, expect Detroit to be more than willing to sell off their expiring assets to continue stocking their prospect cupboards in the coming days.
Edmonton Oilers Place Brandon Manning On Waivers
Tuesday: Manning has cleared waivers and is on his way to the Bakersfield Condors.
Monday: The Edmonton Oilers have placed defenseman Brandon Manning on waivers today for the purpose of a minor league assignment. Manning will head to the Bakersfield Condors if he clears tomorrow. This move will help the Oilers clear enough cap space to activate Andrej Sekera, who is close to returning from injury.
Waiving Manning is just the latest move to seemingly undo one of former GM Peter Chiarelli’s recent transactions, as the defenseman was only acquired by the Oilers at the end of December. Edmonton gave up Drake Caggiula in order to bring in Manning and his $2.25MM average salary that runs through next season, but have decided he’s the easiest player to part with to make room for Sekera. The 28-year old defenseman played in just 12 games for the Oilers and recorded a single point.
Even though some have speculated that a claim is possible, it seems unlikely that anyone will have interest in assuming Manning’s entire remaining contract. The Blackhawks had tried for weeks to move Manning with no luck before finding the desperate Oilers, and Edmonton too has attempted to find a buyer. More probable is that Manning will go to the minor leagues for the time being in order for the team to clear a prorated $1.025MM from their cap, giving them some additional flexibility to activate Sekera.
Like the move on Sunday to trade away Ryan Spooner, Manning’s demotion will be seen as the latest failure of an organization that made many under Chiarelli. Keith Gretzky has taken over as interim GM but the team is still searching for a permanent solution. After dealing with the Spooner, Manning and Cam Talbot situations—the latter was sent to the Philadelphia Flyers over the weekend—the team must now decide what to do with young forward Jesse Puljujarvi.
Kyle Okposo Sent Home For Medical Testing
Tuesday: The Sabres have announced that it is indeed a concussion for Okposo. The forward is out indefinitely.
Monday: The Buffalo Sabres have sent Kyle Okposo home to be evaluated by team doctors. Okposo left Friday’s game after taking a hard punch from Anthony DeAngelo, and ended up missing Buffalo’s next match against the New Jersey Devils. Head coach Phil Housley could not provide any update after practice.
The last thing anyone wants to hear with regards to Okposo is that he has suffered a head injury, given his recent history. In April 2017 Okposo was hospitalized and moved to the Neuro Surgical ICU at Buffalo General Hospital after suffering a concussion and experiencing severe symptoms. The next year, in March 2018, Okposo was diagnosed with another concussion that kept him out for nearly two weeks. On Saturday, the team announced that Okposo had not suffered a concussion this time around, hopefully a diagnosis that is still true after this latest development.
The Sabres are back in action tomorrow night in Florida, and won’t be back in Buffalo until Saturday night. Okposo leaving the team would suggest that he at least will not be available for the next two games, though it is not clear how long he will be out after that. The 30-year old forward has 22 points in 59 games, including just seven in his last 32.
Columbus Blue Jackets Make Four Roster Moves
The Columbus Blue Jackets were busy this morning, making several roster moves as they prepare for the last week before the trade deadline. Brandon Dubinsky has been activated from injured reserve, while Markus Hannikainen takes his place there. In addition, Adam Clendening has been recalled from the minor leagues while Kole Sherwood has been assigned to the AHL. Hannikainen’s IR stint is retroactive to February 14th.
Dubinsky has played just 37 games this season, and missed the last two weeks with a lower-body injury. The veteran forward has 11 points this season and has been relegated to a bottom-six role, but is still a veteran leader on the team and a big body who can engage physically and be a positive in the faceoff circle. The Blue Jackets have extremely thin center depth thanks to another down season for Alexander Wennberg, meaning they’ll take all the help they can get from a player like Dubinsky.
For Sherwood, a demotion comes just after making his NHL debut with the club a few nights ago. The 22-year old forward followed up that performance with over 11 minutes of ice time last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning and didn’t look outmatched at the highest level. Still, he has more to do in order to establish himself as a full-time resident in the Columbus lineup.
The moves leave Columbus with 13 forwards, meaning Anthony Duclair is likely the lone forward scratch for tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.
Philadelphia Flyers Recall, Activate Brian Elliott
The Philadelphia Flyers have sometimes been in need of healthy goaltenders this season. Not currently however, as they now have four on the active roster. The team today recalled Brian Elliott from his conditioning stint and activated him from injured reserve, adding him to a group including Cam Talbot, Carter Hart and Mike McKenna on the active roster.
It’s clear there will be a move of some sort to address this situation, but there isn’t any indication what exactly that will be. The Flyers only acquired Talbot a few days ago to serve as some veteran experience behind Hart, and had been trying to send Elliott back the other way to the Edmonton Oilers before eventually agreeing to trade Anthony Stolarz instead. The team could potentially use waivers for both Elliott and McKenna, though it’s unclear if either would be claimed at this point.
Elliott was actually off to quite a solid start before going down to injury earlier in the year. The veteran goaltender had posted a .911 save percentage through his first 14 appearances and had a 6-7 record despite the team in front of him struggling mightily. That .911 mark is actually quite a bit better than Talbot’s dreadful .893 this season, the low mark of his career.
After a terrible start to the season, the Flyers are now back within striking distance of a playoff spot. The team now sits at 28-24-7 thanks to an incredible run, and just six points behind the current wild card holders. Much of that is due to the strong work from the 20-year old Hart, who should still carry the load down the stretch for the team.
New York Islanders Make Three Transactions
The New York Islanders made a handful of moves this morning, first sending Michael Dal Colle back to the minor leagues. The team has also recalled Andrew Ladd and Thomas Hickey from their respective conditioning stints, though neither have actually been activated from injured reserve yet. Dal Colle was one of the Islanders only waiver-exempt forwards, but his assignment still only leaves them with a single free roster spot. The team will have to make another move to open room in order to activate both Ladd and Hickey.
Dal Colle, 22, has played 20 games with the Islanders this season, his first taste of anything close to regular action since being drafted. The fifth-overall pick from 2014 seems to have turned a corner in his development and is a much more polished player overall. In the AHL where he has played 29 games, he has recorded 16 goals and 28 points. For now he’ll return to a line with Josh Ho-Sang and Tanner Fritz, but it won’t be much of a surprise to see him back up with the Islanders before long.
Meanwhile, the return of Hickey especially will be a big one for the Islanders. The 30-year old defenseman hasn’t played since December 17th but is normally a huge part of the team’s blue line. A solid two-way player, Hickey drives possession numbers and will feel like a big trade deadline acquisition whenever he gets back into the lineup. Ladd has been out even longer, but after a pair of underwhelming seasons in New York it’s unclear what he’ll bring to the table for the team. At the very least, the 33-year old forward is an exceptional leader and has experience in several different roles.
Oilers Activate Andrej Sekera, Place Two On Injured Reserve
The Edmonton Oilers have officially activated Andrej Sekera from long-term injured reserve after clearing enough cap space with this weekend’s Cam Talbot trade. In order to fit him on the roster though, the team has moved Jujhar Khaira and Jesse Puljujarvi to injured reserve. Josh Currie, who has been dominating of late in the AHL, has also been recalled.
Edmonton has also waived Brandon Manning with the intent of burying his cap hit in the minor leagues, giving them some additional flexibility as they head into the upcoming trade deadline. Sekera’s return should strengthen the blue line, though there is no guarantee the 32-year old defenseman will be able to bring his former level of production. It’s been more than ten months since Sekera last played in an NHL game, and his similar comeback in the second half of last season was not exceptional. There was a time when he could be relied upon as one of the team’s most consistent two-way defenders, but the team will hope they can squeeze out even a fraction of that effectiveness down the stretch.
This was the first time the team had even suggested that Puljujarvi is dealing with an injury, and it comes at perhaps the most inopportune time given the recent reports about his availability in trade. The young forward has still not been able to establish himself as a full-time NHL presence, and would likely benefit from some more development time in the AHL. That can’t happen for at least a few days, as even backdating the injured reserve period to his last game—Puljujarvi played 9:31 in Friday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes—would keep him out for this week. Interestingly, Mark Spector of Sportsnet reported that Puljujarvi was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders, apparently not knowing about any injury either. Spector has been told now, as he tweets that the young forward has a lower-body injury that shouldn’t keep him out too long.
While it will be overshadowed by the other news, this is a huge step for Currie who has not yet played an NHL game. The 26-year old forward went undrafted out of the QMJHL but battled his way through minor league contracts and eventually landed an NHL deal with Edmonton last summer. Playing on three ECHL teams across three seasons, he eventually found success in the AHL and is now the Bakersfield Condor’s leading goal scorer with 24 in 49 games this year including 15 in his last 17 contests.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Hossa, Draft Rankings
The NHL has released their three stars for last week, and Nikita Kucherov finds himself on top once again. The Tampa Bay Lightning forward now has 94 points on the season to lead the entire league and has recorded at least two in each of his last four games. That gives Kucherov 28 multi-point games this season and makes him a near lock for his second consecutive 100+ point season. The 25-year old has become an almost unmatched offensive powerhouse the last few seasons and will likely be a finalist for (if not the outright winner of) the Hart Trophy this year.
Fellow Russian sniper Vladimir Tarasenko took home the second star for his ten-point effort, another reason why the St. Louis Blues are the NHL’s hottest team. Tarasenko was included in trade rumors at one point this season, but is now on pace to come close to his career-high in points of 75. Third place went to Sidney Crosby who is having another incredible season even without some of the usual fanfare. Crosby has 72 points in 56 games and will likely continue his streak of point-per-game seasons that has lasted his entire career.
- When Marian Hossa stepped away from the NHL in 2017 due to a mysterious skin condition, many struggled to accept his explanation. That was because it happened to coincide with Hossa’s salary dropping dramatically, meaning he wasn’t leaving very much money on the table by essentially retiring. Now, in an incredible interview with The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required), Hossa opens up about the condition and how it affected his life and playing career. After a trade from Chicago, Hossa’s contract remains on the Arizona Coyotes books and will until 2021 when it eventually expires. He won’t be playing hockey again, but his health and life have returned to some level of normalcy.
- While Powers was busy releasing a feature on Hossa, Athletic colleague Scott Wheeler was releasing his midseason draft rankings (subscription required). Wheeler continues to have Jack Hughes as an easy choice in the top spot and doesn’t see it as “a 1A and 1B” draft with fellow top prospect Kaapo Kakko. Arthur Kaliyev, who scored two more goals today for the Hamilton Bulldogs to give him 47 on the season, sits at 13th and is the top OHL player available. As Corey Pronman of The Athletic points out on Twitter, Kaliyev is in rare (and impressive) territory in terms of draft eligible goal scorers from the OHL.
Jake Virtanen Out A Month With Broken Rib
It was all starting to come together for Jake Virtanen, but he’ll now miss a good chunk of the season thanks to injury. The young Vancouver Canucks forward will be out a month with a fractured rib according to head coach Travis Green. Green also indicated that Chris Tanev is seeing a doctor today to determine the length of his injury timeline. Virtanen had already been placed on injured reserve.
Virtanen, 22, has already set career-highs this season with 12 goals and 22 points. As he starts to become the power forward the team envisioned when they selected him sixth overall in 2014, the Canucks have begun to give him more responsibility and ice time. Virtanen has responded well, recording 119 hits in 58 games while still posting positive possession statistics.
The injury, likely sustained on an open-ice hit from Ryan Getzlaf, will put a temporary end to all the progression Virtanen has experienced this season. After already missing the team’s last two games, another month would mean a total of 13 contests lost. It would also mean that the young forward won’t be able to help the team push for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, something that is just barely out of reach. The Minnesota Wild currently hold the second wild card position with 60 points, while the Canucks sit at 59 and fourth in the Pacific Division.