Teams Gauging Availability Of Buffalo Goaltenders
The Buffalo Sabres have dominated the headlines this morning with the news that they’ll place Matt Moulson on waivers at noon, and Darren Dreger of TSN has some more information regarding the team. Dreger reports on Twitter that teams have called the Sabres about both Chad Johnson and Robin Lehner, trying to gauge the availability of the two goaltenders. With the Sabres falling even further out of the playoff race with four straight losses, it surely won’t be the only calls they’ll receive on players this year.
Both Lehner and Johnson are free agents this summer, with the former being of the restricted variety. While he’s previously shown an ability to put up excellent numbers at the NHL level, Lehner has been just as much of a disappointment as anyone else on the team. With what would be a career-low .903 save percentage, Lehner would be a tough evaluation for new Sabres GM Jason Botterill and head coach Phil Housley. If the team doesn’t believe he can be their starter going forward, perhaps moving him this season would be the right move. As a 26-year old, he’ll need a long-term contract this summer or be heading for unrestricted free agency next offseason.
None of this is to say that the Sabres would actually move a goaltender, but Johnson certainly has to be getting close to expendable. Brought in on a one-year deal to stabilize the backup position, he’s posted a very poor .883 save percentage and won just a single start. With Linus Ullmark waiting in the wings for another chance at the NHL, Johnson’s place doesn’t seem so secure.
Matt Moulson Placed On Waivers
The Buffalo Sabres announced that veteran forward Matt Moulson will be placed on waivers today, for the purpose of assignment to the AHL. Moulson has been held scoreless this season through 14 games, and has struggled to get into the lineup on a consistent basis.
Moulson, 34, carries a $5MM cap hit for this year and next in the final two seasons of his $25MM deal. His career with Buffalo has been anything but productive, as he continually underperformed after coming over from the New York Islanders. Early in the 2013-14 season, the Sabres acquired Moulson (along with two high draft picks) in exchange for Thomas Vanek and then flipped him later in the season to Minnesota for another package of picks and prospects.
Just a few months later, Moulson re-signed with the Sabres when Buffalo offered him a five-year $25MM contract. He was expected to bring some of his goal scoring talent—he’d previously scored 30+ in three separate seasons—but ended up quickly falling down the forward depth chart. Now in the fourth season of that contract, Moulson has just 35 goals and 94 points in 253 games while basically skating as a fourth-liner for the past three years.
By sending him to Rochester if he clears waivers, the Sabres will save (a prorated) $1.025MM in cap space, but will have to pay out his full $5MM salary. Next season, he’s owed just $3MM in actual salary but would be a potential buyout candidate once again. It’s unlikely that he will be claimed, as his cap hit is too restrictive for what he brings to the team.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Minor Transactions: 12/04/17
After an interesting weekend around the NHL, teams like the Winnipeg Jets are finding themselves in unfamiliar territory. The Canadian team is in first place in the Central Division, leapfrogging the St. Louis Blues and tying the Tampa Bay Lightning for the best record in the league. In the East, the Montreal Canadiens are flying up the Atlantic Division while the Pittsburgh Penguins are back to their winning ways.
As teams continue to push towards the Christmas break, we’ll keep an eye on all the minor transactions of the day.
- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Evan Rodrigues from Rochester, sending down Kyle Criscuolo in his place. Rodrigues was expected to make an impact at the NHL level this season, but missed the first part of the year with an injured hand. Suffering the injury in the preseason, he’s only been back in AHL game action for the last few weeks. With 10 points in eight games he’s ready to contribute to the Sabres once again.
- Tampa Bay has sent defenseman Jamie McBain back to the AHL, after just a few days with the club. McBain was called up over the weekend to give the team some insurance after Braydon Coburn wasn’t able to dress, but never got into the lineup. The veteran has 11 points in 21 games for the Syracuse Crunch this season. (Update 7:45pm: McBain has been called back up by the team, as both Coburn and Jake Dotchin are still unable to return).
- Dominic Toninato has been sent back to the San Antonio Rampage by the Colorado Avalanche, ending his short stint with the team. The 23-year old forward played eight games for the club and registered one point, but wasn’t effective enough to deserve regular minutes. The team has called up Rocco Grimaldi in his stead, though Colin Wilson is also set to return from injury.
- Mark Stepneski of NHL.com reports that the Dallas Stars have assigned Jason Dickinson to the AHL, meaning the 22-year old will have to wait for another chance at his first goal this season. In four games Dickinson was held scoreless and will return to the minor leagues to continue his development. A first-round pick by the Stars a few years ago, he still has a bright future in the organization.
Sabres Notes: Asking Price For Kane, Listening To Offers On All But Eichel
While many expect the Sabres to deal Evander Kane between now and the trade deadline, the asking price is believed to be higher than the top rental players from the previous deadlines. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has been told that Buffalo will be seeking a return higher than what Winnipeg received for Andrew Ladd in 2016 (Marko Dano, a first-round pick, and a conditional pick) and what the Coyotes got for Martin Hanzal and Ryan White (first, second, and fourth-round selections).
Kane’s production pace (12 goals and 12 assists through 27 games) vastly surpasses what Ladd and Hanzal did in the final year of their respective contracts so that level of an asking price will be justified. However, with teams being less and less willing to trade top draft picks now, it will be interesting to see what type of market GM Jason Botterill has to work with when it comes to trying to move his top scorer.
Friedman adds that Buffalo is telling teams that they can ask about any player not named Jack Eichel. He’s quick to note that this is not to be equated as the Sabres actively shopping everyone other than Eichel but they are prepared to listen to offers. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, as well as forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Sam Reinhart, would certainly generate a lot of interest and all three have at least four years of team control remaining so other teams should be more willing to part with key draft picks and youngsters than they might with a pending UFA like Kane.
With the Sabres sitting dead last in the NHL and a new coach and GM already in place from the summer, it appears that the next big change will have to be in terms of player personnel. As a result, Buffalo is going to be a team to watch for in the weeks ahead.
Atlantic Notes: Zetterberg, Holland, Eichel, Chabot
The Detroit Red Wings were searching for answers after their 10-1 loss Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens. The team struggled immensely and added to their losing steak which has now reached seven straight. Players had were in shock and captain Henrik Zetterberg was quite candid with his reaction after the team had previously lost the first game of the home-and-home series with Montreal, a 6-3 defeat at home, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free-Press.
“I’ve played professional hockey for 20 years, I don’t think I’ve been a part of anything like what happened here tonight,” Zetterberg said. “The way we played, with the way our last game went, with what happened after that game, the next day — and then we come out here with this tonight.”
St. James writes the team was shocked, because it had two players-only meetings, one after Thursday’s home loss to Montreal and then the following day on Friday. Yet nothing went right Saturday.
“It’s about time we look ourselves in the mirror,” said defenseman Niklas Kronwall. “It doesn’t matter what talks you have if you are not going to go out there, be prepared and be ready to play. Today, we had nothing.”
- Sticking with the Red Wings, The Athletic’s Katie Strang writes (subscription required) that after Saturday’s 10-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens and the comments from Zetterberg, the team has made it quite clear they are not a playoff team. However, it is not likely a coaching change or a change at general manager is in the team’s short-term future. GM Ken Holland‘s contract expires at the end of the season and it’s likely the team will bring in someone new who will want to hire their own coach. That being said, Strang said she hopes that Holland will embrace a rebuild and at least start to trade players and promote the play of the team’s younger players.
- Speaking of futility, Buffalo Sabres forward Jason Pominville scored the team’s first goal Saturday after going scoreless for 232 minutes and nine seconds. The Sabres have now lost four straight, which included getting shutout twice in that span. The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington writes that the goal is just a tiny speck of silver lining and the locker room must start stepping up. The team needs star Jack Eichel to be the one to lead them. “It’s tough to score goals in this league and you start gripping your stick a little bit, thinking, maybe fine-tuning it a little bit,” said Eichel, who has three goals in his last 18 games. “I’m guilty of it recently, fine-tuning my shots too much instead of getting pucks to the net and seeing what will happen.”
- James Gordon of The Athletic writes that Ottawa Senators’ defenseman Thomas Chabot is here to stay in the NHL after his performance in the team’s 6-5 OT victory over the New York Islanders on Friday. It wasn’t just that Chabot put up a goal and two assists in the win, but it was the minutes that the 20-year-old got in the game, which was 15:23, a very high number from a coach in Guy Boucher who is known not to give minutes out to young players.
Sabres Recall Hudson Fasching
- The floundering Buffalo Sabres have made a move, calling up forward Hudson Fasching from the AHL’s Rochester Americans, per a team report. The Sabres have failed to score a goal in each of their past three games and face the two-time defending Stanley Cup champs, the Pittsburgh Penguins, again today as the second half of a home-and-home. Buffalo could use all the help they can get and Fasching is tied for the team lead in goals in Rochester and uses his big frame to create opportunities around the net. The former University of Minnesota star has not proven himself in the pros quite yet, but could earn a regular role in the NHL if he jump starts the Sabres’ season (or at least scores a goal).
Linus Ullmark Re-Assigned To Rochester
- As expected, the Buffalo Sabres have returned Linus Ullmark to the AHL after spending practice with the team yesterday. Robin Lehner was given a maintenance day, but the Sabres still wanted two goaltenders on the ice. Ullmark’s time will come with Buffalo, as he continues to impress in the minor leagues.
Snapshots: Paquette, Kane, Malkin
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cedric Paquette is having a hearing today with the Department of Player Safety regarding his hit from behind on Torey Krug last night. Paquette was assessed a two-minute boarding penalty on the play (along with a roughing minor for his scrap with Frank Vatrano a few seconds later) and could face additional discipline.
From the video, it looks like Paquette had ample time to avoid or minimize the contact after Krug turned his back to him instead of driving through his body and into the boards. Paquette has not been suspended previously by the DoPS, although he was the target of a hit that resulted in Zac Rinaldo being suspended for five games.
- Evander Kane is the big trade target, but Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill hasn’t made up his mind on whether to move him or not. As Botterill told John Vogl of the Buffalo News, the Sabres are ecstatic with how Kane has played this season under new head coach Phil Housley, and could decide to keep him during his successful season. With the Sabres falling out of contention, the only real reasons to keep Kane around would be if you believe you can complete a dramatic comeback in the second half of the season, or have a shot at re-signing him before he bolts in free agency.
- Evgeni Malkin is set to get back into the Pittsburgh Penguins’ lineup after taking a full-contact practice today with his teammates. Malkin hasn’t played since November 18th, but was off to quite the start to the season. With the Penguins still floundering in the middle of the Metropolitan Division, Malkin’s return will be a welcome sight. As Phil Kessel put it to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “whenever you can get one of the best players in the world back in your lineup, it adds to your team.” You’ve got that right, Phil.
Minor Transactions: 11/30/17
The NHL is back at it with seven games scheduled for tonight, including another meeting of Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews in Edmonton. Both young superstars are riding five-game goalless droughts, which could mean a high-scoring affair is in order if either breaks out. Matthews was held without a shot for the first time in his career on Tuesday night against the Calgary Flames, something that seems unlikely to repeat. The league will surely have several transactions today as teams get ready for the weekend, and as always we’ll keep track of them right here.
- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled goaltender Linus Ullmark from Rochester, a transaction that interestingly includes “for practice” in its release. It’s not clear which goaltender is being held out today or for what reason, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens at practice. The Sabres play the Penguins tomorrow night at home, before heading to Pittsburgh for the second half of a back-to-back. It could simply be because of Ullmark’s strong play in the AHL, as Chad Johnson certainly hasn’t won any fans in his return to Buffalo. Through 10 appearances, Johnson has an .885 save percentage.
- The Nashville Predators have swapped backup goaltenders once again, recalling Anders Lindback and assigning Juuse Saros to the AHL. The team has done this throughout the season to get playing time for both men, even with Saros’ struggles at both levels.
Buffalo Willing To Retain Salary In Evander Kane Trade
On the latest edition of TSN’s Insider Trading, the panel—Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie—discuss several interesting rumors around the league including Evander Kane. LeBrun reports that the Buffalo Sabres have started telling teams that they would be willing to retain part of Kane’s $5.25MM cap hit in a potential trade, though the insider is quick to point out that any deal is still likely six or seven weeks away if it even happens at all.
Kane is a pending unrestricted free agent, and despite his strong play the Sabres find themselves near the bottom of the standings once again. While there has been rumblings that perhaps the team would consider a long-term extension, if the player isn’t willing to sign it before the trade deadline there probably has to be a trade of some sort. Kane does not have any trade protection on his current deal—which pays him $6MM this year in actual salary—and could be used as one of the very best chips at the deadline.
The 26-year old already has 12 goals and 23 points on the season, a 75-point pace that would easily eclipse his career high to this point. He’s found a nice chemistry with Jack Eichel, but may be more interested in what he can get on the open market as one of the very best free agents available next summer. If he does make it all the way there without incident, he would presumably—despite what Dreger has heard to this point—command a seven-year deal at an impressive salary. 30-goal players in the prime of their careers don’t hit the open market very often.