Buffalo Sabres Sign Dalton Smith
The Buffalo Sabres have decided that Dalton Smith has done enough to earn an NHL deal, signing the minor league veteran to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level. Smith has been with the Rochester Americans for the last three seasons, playing on AHL contracts.
If a deal like this comes as some surprise, it is important to note who the Sabres play on Tuesday evening. Buffalo will welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning into their building tomorrow night, the same team that has injured both Vladimir Sobotka and Rasmus Dahlin this season. Though Smith isn’t a prototypical enforcer, he does play an extremely heavy game and is not afraid to stand up for his teammates or drop the gloves.
The fact that Smith isn’t on waivers prior to signing indicates that he will not be sent down immediately. In fact, he was on the ice with the team at practice today and could very well be added to the lineup for tomorrow night. The 27-year old has four points in 21 games for the Americans this season.
Jeff Skinner To Miss Three-To-Four Weeks
Friday night was a tough one for the Sabres. They struggled in a 3-0 loss to Boston and in the process, they lost one of their top offensive threats as the team announced that winger Jeff Skinner will miss the next three-to-four weeks due to an upper-body injury. The injury occurred early in the third period in a collision with Boston winger David Pastrnak.
Skinner is only a year removed from scoring 40 goals although that production hasn’t quite carried over to this season. He currently sits fifth in team scoring with 11 goals and eight assists through 39 contests which isn’t the point total they were hoping for when they signed him to an eight-year, $72MM deal back in June.
Nonetheless, it’s another blow to Buffalo’s forward group which has multiple players out already and has seen several others struggle this season. GM Jason Botterill is known to be shopping multiple defensemen for help up front and while this injury could help a deal like that along, they’ve also lost some leverage with other teams in the process.
After a strong start to the season, Buffalo has won just one of their last six games and have dropped out of a playoff spot in the process with all of the teams battling with them for the final guaranteed playoff spot in the Atlantic having games in hand on them. Now they’ll be forced to try to get back in without one of their better offensive players for the next little while.
Minor Transactions: 12/26/19
The NHL returns to action tomorrow with an 11-game slate, meaning 22 teams will have to shake off the rust of a three-day break from both game play and practice. In preparation for this return, a few teams have made small moves today, within the limits of what is allowed during the league’s Holiday Roster Freeze. Follow along here:
- The Buffalo Sabres announced that forward Curtis Lazar has been returned to the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Lazar, who signed with the Sabres as a free agent this summer, has only played in eight games with the team versus 18 with Rochester. While his AHL production has been good, Lazar has been limited to just one point with Buffalo. The Sabres continue to seek offense, but clearly don’t feel that Lazar is a solution.
- Cam Atkinson is headed to the injured reserve and the Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Jakob Lilja to replace him on the roster for the time being. Columbus also called up center Ryan MacInnis and defensemen Gabriel Carlsson and Adam Clendening on an emergency basis, implying that Atkinson’s is not the only absence that the team is expecting when they return to action. As for Atkinson, his IR placement is retroactive to December 19th, making him eligible for activation on Sunday. However that won’t be the case, as the team added that the expected timeline for his recovery from an ankle sprain is two to three weeks.
NHL Draft Picks Participating In The World Junior Championship
The 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship is underway from Ostrava and Trinec in the Czech Republic. The tournament began today and will run through the championship game on January 5th. Each of the NHL’s 31 teams has at least one representative at the WJC. Five teams have only one draft pick participating, while the Los Angeles Kings (9) and Arizona Coyotes (7) each have more than those teams combined. However, it only takes one player and one moment to make history at the WJC. Check out which future NHLers will have that chance this year:
Anaheim Ducks (2):
G Lukas Dostal, Czech Republic
F Trevor Zegras, USA
Arizona Coyotes (7):
F Barrett Hayton, Canada
F Jan Jenik, Czech Republic
F Matias Maccelli, Finland
D Aku Raty, Finland
D Victor Soderstrom, Sweden
F Valentin Nussbaumer, Switzerland
D Ty Emberson, USA
Boston Bruins (3):
F Jakub Lauko, Czech Republic
F John Beecher, USA
F Curtis Hall, USA
Buffalo Sabres (4):
F Dylan Cozens, Canada
F Matej Pekar, Czech Republic
G Erik Portillo, Sweden
D Mattias Samuelsson, USA
Calgary Flames (1):
G Dustin Wolf, USA
Carolina Hurricanes (5):
D Anttoni Honka, Finland
F Lenni Killinen, Finland
F Patrik Puistola, Finland
F Dominik Bokk, Germany
F Jack Drury, USA
Chicago Blackhawks (2):
F Antti Saarela, Finland
F Michal Teply, Czech Republic
Colorado Avalanche (4):
D Bowen Byram, Canada
G Justus Annunen, Finland
F Sampo Ranta, Finland
D Daniil Zhuravlyov, Russia
Columbus Blue Jackets (4):
F Liam Foudy, Canada
F Kirill Marchenko, Russia
F Dmitri Voronkov, Russia
D Tim Berni, Switzerland
Dallas Stars (3):
F Ty Dellandrea, Canada
F Oskar Back, Sweden
F Albin Eriksson, Sweden
Detroit Red Wings (5):
D Jared McIsaac, Canada
F Joseph Veleno, Canada
D Moritz Seider, Germany
F Jonatan Berggren, Sweden
F Jesper Eliasson, Sweden
Edmonton Oilers (4):
F Raphael Lavoie, Canada
G Olivier Rodrigue, Canada
F Matej Blumel, Czech Republic
D Philip Broberg, Sweden
Florida Panthers (3):
Justin Schutz, Germany
F Grigori Denisenko, Russia
G Spencer Knight, USA
Los Angeles Kings (9):
F Aidan Dudas, Canada
F Akil Thomas, Canada
F Lukas Parik, Czech Republic
F Rasmus Kupari, Finland
D Kim Nousiainen, Finland
D Tobias Bjornfot, Sweden
F Samuel Fagemo, Sweden
F Arthur Kaliyev, USA
F Alex Turcotte, USA
Minnesota Wild (1):
F Alexander Khovanov, Russia
Montreal Canadiens (4):
D Alexander Romanov, Russia
D Mattias Norlinder, Sweden
F Cole Caufield, USA
D Jordan Harris, USA
Nashville Predators (1):
D Spencer Stastney, USA
New Jersey Devils (5):
D Kevin Bahl, Canada
D Ty Smith, Canada
D Daniil Misyul, Russia
F Nikola Pasic, Sweden
G Akira Schmid, Switzerland
New York Islanders (2):
F Jacob Pivonka, USA
F Oliver Wahlstrom, USA
New York Rangers (5):
D Nico Gross, Switzerland
F Karl Henriksson, Sweden
D Nils Lundkvist, Sweden
D Zachary Jones, USA
D K’Andre Miller, USA
Ottawa Senators (3):
D Jacob Bernard-Docker, Canada
D Lassi Thomson, Finland
F Shane Pinto, USA
Philadelphia Flyers (4):
F Egor Zamula, Russia
D Adam Ginning, Sweden
F Bobby Brink, USA
D Cameron York, USA
Pittsburgh Penguins (1):
D Calen Addison, Canada
San Jose Sharks (1):
Santeri Hatakka, Finland
St. Louis Blues (2):
G Joel Hofer, Canada
F Nikita Alexandrov, Russia
Tampa Bay Lightning (3):
F Nolan Foote, Canada
F Maxim Cajkovic, Czech Republic
G Hugo Alnefelt, Sweden
Toronto Maple Leafs (3):
D Mikko Kokkonen, Finland
D Rasmus Sandin, Sweden
F Nicholas Robertson, USA
Vancouver Canucks (4):
F Karel Plasek, Czech Republic
D Toni Utunen, Finland
F Vasily Podkolzin, Russia
F Nils Hoglander, Sweden
Vegas Golden Knights (3):
F Pavel Dorofeyev, Russia
F Ivan Morozov, Russia
G Isaiah Saville, USA
Washington Capitals (2):
F Connor McMichael, Canada
D Martin Has, Czech Republic
Winnipeg Jets (2):
F David Gustafsson, Sweden
D Ville Heinola, Finland
Johan Larsson Expected To Return Friday
- The Sabres expect to have center Johan Larsson back in their lineup for their next game on Friday, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. He suffered an undisclosed injury back on Thursday against Philadelphia. As a result, Lysowski suggests that Buffalo won’t need to call back Curtis Lazar who was among the players sent down immediately following final games before the holiday break.
Minor Transactions: 12/20/19
It’s always a date to circle on the NHL calendar when the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers meet, as battles between Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid never fail to impress. Unfortunately tonight one side will be without their superstar as Crosby continues to recover from injury, meaning Evgeni Malkin and company will have to try and hold off McDavid on their own. That is just one of the four matchups this evening, and as teams prepare we’ll keep track of all the minor moves.
- It’s not just Crosby who is hurting for the Penguins, meaning they needed even more bodies from the minor leagues today. The team has recalled Thomas Di Pauli and Kevin Czuczman from the AHL in time for tonight’s game.
- The Carolina Hurricanes have sent Brian Gibbons back to the minor leagues. Gibbons has been the team’s insurance forward all season, bouncing up and down whenever they need another body. The 31-year old has played in 15 NHL games, but hasn’t scored a single point.
- David Kase has been sent back to the minor leagues after just a single day in the NHL. This is already Kase’s fourth transaction this month, serving as an insurance policy for the Philadelphia Flyers on game days.
- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Curtis Lazar after Jack Eichel was made a late scratch last night. The captain was out with an upper-body injury, technically ending his 17-game point streak.
- Yakov Trenin has been sent back to the minor leagues by the Nashville Predators, who will conclude their road trip with a date against the Boston Bruins tomorrow. Trenin, 22, has played in six games with the team this season but has been a force in the AHL.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled both Jakob Lilja and Ryan MacInnis from the minor leagues. MacInnis, 23, has actually still not made his NHL debut despite being a second-round pick from 2014 and playing regularly in the minor leagues.
- Zack MacEwen has been recalled by the Vancouver Canucks, after Josh Leivo was injured in last night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights. MacEwan has become a favorite call-up of the Canucks after signing as an undrafted free agent, with eight games already played in the NHL this season.
Sabres And Hurricanes Have Multiple Defensemen Available
Teams that are looking to add defensive depth should be focusing on a pair of Eastern Conference squads. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports in the latest edition of Insider Trading (video link) that on top of veterans Zach Bogosian and Marco Scandella who were known to be available, the Sabres are also willing to part with Colin Miller. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes aren’t just open to moving Trevor van Riemsdyk as recent acquisitions Jake Gardiner and Joel Edmundson are also believed to be trade options for them.
Bogosian ($5.143MM) and Scandella ($4MM) are on expiring contracts and have had limited roles when healthy over the last couple of years. In Bogosian’s case, he recently asked to be dealt following the first of his healthy scratches earlier this month. But Miller has another two years left after this one at a reasonable $3.875MM AAV. While he hasn’t performed to expectations with Buffalo, the 27-year-old put up 70 points in his two seasons with Vegas and averaged over 19 minutes a night in both years. That was enough for the Sabres to part with second and fifth-round picks for Miller back in June although they may not be able to recoup that now considering he has spent time as a healthy scratch recently.
As for Carolina, Gardiner just signed with them back in September, inking a slightly-backloaded four-year, $16.2MM deal to match his $4.05MM AAV from his previous contract. He has struggled considerably with his new team though, recording just eight points along with an ugly -17 plus/minus rating; only four blueliners in the league have a lower rating. With those struggles, his contract, and a seven-team no-trade clause, the market for him may be somewhat limited.
Edmundson ($3.1MM) and van Riemsdyk ($2.3MM) are both pending unrestricted free agents. Edmundson was part of the Justin Faulk trade at the beginning of the season and has been a steady presence on their third pairing. However, the team would like to give Haydn Fleury some more playing time so clearing out one of their left-shot defenders would help create that opportunity. As for van Riemsdyk, he has been available for a while now but his value has taken a bit of a dip as he’s averaging less than 14 minutes a night, well below his career average which is up over the 17-minute mark.
McKenzie notes that both teams are looking for scoring help but at this stage, they may have to settle for future assets in return and then try to turn those around into the forward that they covet. While we’re only hours away from the Holiday Roster Freeze coming into effect, these players will be ones to keep an eye on heading into 2020.
Jack Eichel Scratched With An Upper-Body Injury
- Just prior to puck drop tonight, the Sabres announced (Twitter link) that star center Jack Eichel was being scratched due to an upper-body injury; TSN’s Darren Dreger adds (via Twitter) that it’s likely the flu. Eichel is in the midst of a 17-game point streak but that has now come to an end.
Five Key Stories: 12/09/19 – 12/15/19
It was a week full of intrigue leading into a week with the potential to be full of action, as some teams look to make a move before the NHL’s holiday roster freeze begins on Thursday, December 19. Here are the five biggest stories of the past seven days:
Taylor Hall Trade Talks Heating Up: The biggest story of the week remains a non-story, at least for now. The New Jersey Devils threw the hockey world into a tizzy on Friday night when they scratched impending free agent superstar Taylor Hall just minutes before their game started and after he had skated in warm-ups. This immediately sparked speculation that a trade was imminent, especially given the fact that the Devils were set to face the Colorado Avalanche and then the Arizona Coyotes the following night, two of Hall’s biggest suitors. The Devils stressed that Hall was being held out as a precaution and that no deal was in place, and so far that has been proven true. However, with the roster freeze right around the corner, the odds remain high that Hall will be dealt in the coming days.
Peter Deboer Fired By San Jose: A Stanley Cup appearance and two Western Conference Final visits were not enough to save San Jose Sharks head coach Peter Deboer, who was fired on Wednesday. The team’s poor start to the season, and statistics that show it was more than just a case of bad luck, left San Jose in need of a change. They got that and more, moving on from Deboer and three assistants. Former Florida Panthers head coach Bob Boughner has taken over as head coach, with a brand new staff, including two former Sharks players. Whether or not new guidance is enough to cure the Sharks’ woes in net and scoring slump remains to be seen, but Deboer seems unlikely to be unemployed for too long.
Dallas Dismisses Jim Montgomery: There is still almost nothing known about the firing of Dallas Stars head coach Jim Montgomery on Tuesday. Unlike Deboer or New Jersey’s John Hynes, fired for team performance, or Calgary’s Bill Peters, fired for past instances of player abuse, Montgomery’s dismissal fits into neither category. The Stars only stated that Montgomery was fired for “a material act of unprofessionalism”. Assistant Rick Bowness has taken over as interim head coach of a Dallas team that had been on a roll under Montgomery.
Bogosian and Baertschi Request Trades: Two different players have decided that they have had enough of their current situations. Buffalo Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian requested a trade on Thursday, and Vancouver Canucks winger Sven Baertschi did the same on Saturday. Bogosian, an impending free agent, is not receiving regular play time on a crowded Buffalo blue line. The veteran is a talented defender who undoubtedly like to both conrtibute to a playoff run and establish his value ahead of next summer, but won’t have the opportunity to do either with the Sabres. However, a lofty cap hit and a penchant for getting hurt could make it difficult for Bogosian to move. Baertschi too has an unappealing salary situation. Baertschi has been a relatively productive player in his career, but with a $3.367MM cap hit through 2020-21 and a recent history of concussions, the winger is a risk. Vancouver had opted to send him to the AHL to begin the year, but Baertschi believes that he belongs at the top level and hopes that the Canucks can find him a new home.
Oskar Lindblom Battling Cancer: The Philadelphia Flyers announced sad news on Friday that young forward Oskar Lindblom had been diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Lindblom is not expected to return to the ice this season as he focuses on treatment. The 23-year old has 18 points in 30 games this year and the hope is that he can get back to health and continue his growth into a core piece for Philadelphia. Lindblom has received an outpouring of support from the hockey community and we here at PHR certainly wish him the best in this difficult process.
Buffalo Sabres Demote Casey Mittelstadt
In a significant, albeit not overly surprising move, the Buffalo Sabres have announced that center Casey Mittelstadt has been reassigned to the AHL’s Rochester Americans. This is the first career demotion for Mittelstadt, who has never played a game in the AHL. The 21-year-old has four goals and five assists in 31 games with the Sabres this season.
Mittelstadt was selected by Buffalo with the eighth overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft out of Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota. After playing the following season with the University of Minnesota and dominating at the World Junior Championship, Mittelstadt joined the Sabres and made his NHL debut at the end of the 2017-18 campaign. Mittelstadt got off to a strong start in the pros with five points in his first six games. However, he has failed to build on that early success. Mittelstadt recorded 25 points in 77 games with the Sabres, a passable rookie season but not what the team was expecting. Mittelstadt also struggled with the defensive aspects of the game at the top level. He has started similarly this season, posting just nine points through 31 games thus far and the worst possession numbers of any Sabres forward.
At this point, a demotion had become inevitable. Mittelstadt’s ice time has been dwindling and he was a healthy scratch in three of the Sabres’ past four games. While GM Jason Botterill has clearly not been eager to send the first draft pick of his tenure in Buffalo to the AHL, new head coach Ralph Krueger does not share the same commitment to the young pivot. Poor optics aside, it is a better move to send Mittelstadt to the minors where he can work on his game rather than keep him in the NHL where his ice time is no longer guaranteed.
Additionally, it is about to become an embarrassment of riches in Rochester. Mittelstadt is joining a team that leads the AHL’s Eastern Conference and has picked up points in all but four of their 26 games so far this season, with just one loss since November 1st. Mittelstadt will be able to focus on improving his game without having to worry about carrying the Americans, who are receiving a balanced effort game in and game out. There is no indication of how long Mittelstadt will remain in Rochester, but until he earns his recall back to Buffalo, it’s hard to imagine the farm team not continuing their run of dominance.