Gorges Close To Returning, Beaulieu Making Progress
- The Sabres could get defenseman Josh Gorges back this weekend, notes Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The veteran has missed the last eight games due to a lower-body injury and Buffalo could certainly use some healthy bodies on their injury-riddled back end. Fellow rearguard Nathan Beaulieu is also making progress on his lower-body issue although there’s no timetable for his return. Meanwhile, blueliner Matt Tennyson is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury.
Minor Transactions: 11/07/17
After an interesting Monday night, teams get ready for another busy night in the NHL. 18 teams will do battle this evening, including some old rivalries like Vancouver-Calgary and Los Angeles-Anaheim. We’ll keep track of all the minor moves made today right here.
- The Buffalo Sabres have moved Justin Bailey to injured reserve and recalled Zach Redmond in his place. Bailey hasn’t played since October 28th, and isn’t any closer to a return. Redmond on the other hand has been used as the team’s extra defender several times since being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens earlier this year. The 29-year old has been held scoreless in two games this season.
- Florida has recalled Chase Balisy, after opening up a roster spot yesterday. The Panthers had decided to send Owen Tippett back to junior hockey, and have now replaced him with Balisy for the time being. The 25-year old forward made his NHL debut this season, but has yet to score in three games.
- Boston has sent Zane McIntyre back to the AHL after backing up Tuukka Rask last night. McIntyre was up on emergency conditions, but will be replaced by Anton Khudobin tomorrow night.
- The Arizona Coyotes have sent Louis Domingue back to the minor leagues, recalling Mike Sislo in the process. Domingue has lost his role as the team’s backup to Scott Wedgewood, who was recently told to get a place in Glendale as he’ll be with the team for a while. Domingue cleared waivers last month, and can be brought up and down for cap purposes for the time being.
- Toronto has flipped Kasperi Kapanen back to the minor leagues and brought up Frederik Gauthier, likely to get the former some playing time. Kapanen hasn’t played much since being recalled to the NHL club, and is still one of the Maple Leafs’ prized prospects. Gauthier on the other hand is a first-rounder that hasn’t quite worked out to this point. A big-bodied center, he’s only shown fourth-line ability so far in his career. He’ll likely serve as more insurance for Auston Matthews, who was bothered by injury but still played in the Maple Leafs game last night.
- The Maple Leafs have also loaned Eric Fehr to the San Diego Gulls. Fehr had already been playing with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, but due to their glut of forwards and Anaheim’s recent injuries he’ll get more playing time in San Diego. His $2MM contract will remain on the books for the Maple Leafs.
- The Vancouver Canucks have recalled Reid Boucher from the AHL, though it’s not clear exactly how he’ll fit on the roster. Even with the assignment of Jayson Megna yesterday, the team is already carrying 23 players thanks to Brendan Gaunce‘s activation from injured reserve and Thatcher Demko‘s presence as the third goaltender with the club. Boucher has ten points in ten games for the Utica Comets this season, but will have to clear waivers again should he be sent back. Boucher last cleared on September 26th when he was cut from training camp.
Rasmus Ristolainen Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury
- Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen suffered an upper-body injury on Thursday night and is listed as day-to-day, the team announced via Twitter. He joins fellow blueliners Zach Bogosian, Nathan Beaulieu, and Josh Gorges on the injured list; through 13 games this season, Buffalo has yet to dress a fully-healthy defense corps. Ristolainen’s loss is a significant one as he is unquestionably their top defender and leads the league in average ice time per night at 27:09. Taylor Fedun is expected to take his place in Buffalo’s lineup.
Minor Transactions: 10/31/17
Happy Halloween reader, and welcome to another edition of who’s up and who’s down. As usual, we’ll keep an eye on all the movement around the National Hockey League and collect all the minor moves right here.
- The Buffalo Sabres started the day off with the first move, bringing Taylor Fedun back up from the minor leagues. Fedun has already played two games this season for the Sabres, but had given up that depth spot to Zach Redmond of late. With Justin Falk expected to be activated this week, there is no clear path into the lineup for Fedun. Perhaps he’ll serve as insurance while Buffalo heads out on a short two-game road trip to Arizona and Dallas. The 29-year old has 41 games of NHL experience so far, registering 15 points.
- The Ottawa Senators have returned Max McCormick to the AHL after calling him up just yesterday. McCormick played in Senators’ game against the Montreal Canadiens last night, but amazingly saw just a minute of ice time and 14 minutes of penalties. It won’t be the last time he’s used in this role for Ottawa, who will likely bounce him up and down if they feel they need a physical presence.
- The Arizona Coyotes have indeed sent Louis Domingue to the AHL, recalling Joel Hanley with the corresponding roster spot. The Coyotes turned to Scott Wedgewood in net last night and finally got their first win of the season. Domingue, once considered a capable backup, will need to find his game again in the minor leagues.
- Julius Honka, profiled as a potential impact rookie earlier this summer, has been sent to the AHL by the Dallas Stars. Honka wasn’t playing enough to warrant staying up with the NHL team, as his development is key to the Stars future. The 14th-overall pick from 2014, Honka has tremendous upside as an all-around defender capable of contributing offensively and skating big minutes in the future. He’ll have to wait for a bigger opportunity, or an injury to one of the Stars’ top six.
- Philadelphia has recalled another defender, bringing up Will O’Neill from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Both Nolan Patrick and Andrew MacDonald are currently on injured reserve, while Shayne Gostisbehere is still out with an upper-body injury. O’Neill will serve as an insurance policy on the upcoming two-game road trip, but is unlikely to get into a game. The 29-year old has never been called up previously, but has a long history of success in the AHL.
Eastern Notes: Smith-Pelly, Andersen, Fedun
A few days ago, Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz hinted that bottom-six winger Devante Smith-Pelly might be nearing a promotion to a better line. Well, NBC Sports’ Tarik El-Bashir writes that tonight will be that promotion as the 25-year-old has been moved onto the team’s top line alongside Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov in their game against the Edmonton Oilers.
Smith-Pelly, who came to Washington this offseason, has had a very inconsistent career, starting when he was a highly-touted prospect and was drafted in the second round in 2010 by the Anaheim Ducks. Despite his junior success and his success at the AHL level, the winger had trouble figuring things out at the NHL level and quickly found himself bouncing around different teams. He signed a one-year, $650K deal with Washington this offseason after a one-year stint in New Jersey a year ago in which he tallied just nine points in 53 games.
Now, with the Capitals, he has started to show some of his skills and has earned the trust of Trotz. While he’s yet to score a goal, the belief is that his talents might be a perfect fit alongside Ovechkin and Kuznetsov. Smith-Pelly will replace Jakub Vrana, who moves to the team’s second line next to T.J. Oshie and Niklas Backstrom, who is returning after missing a game due to illness.
“He deserves it. He’s put in the work. His game is such that he needs to move up in the lineup,” Trotz said on Smith-Pelly’s promotion.
Buffalo Sabres Sign Cliff Pu To Entry-Level Contract
The Buffalo Sabres have inked prospect Cliff Pu to a three-year, entry-level contract. Pu is currently playing for the London Knights of the OHL, where he has six points in 11 games.
Selected in the third round of the 2016 draft, Pu is the latest player to sign out of the NHL factory that is London. The junior program churns out high draft picks every year, including three first rounders (Olli Juolevi, Matthew Tkachuk and Max Jones) in 2016. Pu played with all of them, racking up 86 points a year ago.
Pu was part of the Team Canada roster at the recent World Junior Summer Showcase, and has a good chance at representing his country again this winter at the U20 tournament. He is a big, strong center that can score goals on the rush and in tight, and plays a responsible two-way game. Even in 2015-16, when the London roster was loaded with talent like Mitch Marner, Christian Dvorak and Tkachuk, the Knights relied heavily on Pu as a matchup player against some tough competition. He’s continued to progress, and should have a legitimate shot at a full-time middle-six role in the NHL.
Buffalo, who are still struggling to find an identity in the NHL look like they struck gold with Pu in the third round. They picked him coming off just a 31-point season, relying on his skill, strength and role with the Knights to project him forward. As the team continues to build towards contention with Jack Eichel and company, there are several intriguing prospects in the system. It might not be this year, but there will be some debuts before long.
Sabres Not Expected To Re-Sign Evander Kane
Despite a very strong start to the season, TSN’s Darren Dreger suggested during an interview with WGR 550 in Buffalo (audio link) that the Sabres are unlikely to re-sign pending UFA winger Evander Kane. However, it doesn’t appear that GM Jason Botterill is actively shopping him either at this time. Kane has ten points through eight games and keeping up anywhere near close to that pace should set him up well to hit the open market. That said, Dreger noted that even though the 26-year-old could on pace for a career season, he still could be in tough to land a long-term contract given some of the concerns surrounding him that have come up over the years.
Sabres Place Gorges On IR, Recall Redmond
The struggling Sabres continue to take hits. At 1-5-2, Buffalo is no longer win-less like the Arizona Coyotes, neither are they the worst team even in the Atlantic, having passed up the Montreal Canadiens. However, four points in eight games is nothing to write home about and now the injuries are starting to pile up. Zach Bogosian doesn’t appear to be close to a comeback, and the team recently recalled Taylor Fedun with Jacob Josefson also sidelined. The latest addition: veteran defenseman Josh Gorges, who the team placed on injured reserve this morning.
While the team did not specifically address what is ailing Gorges in the press release, a recent article by Buffalo News’ John Vogl updated the injury statuses of several players, including Bogosian, Josefson, another downed defender Justin Falk, and yet another concern, banged up forward Zemgus Girgensons. In the piece, Vogl asks coach Phil Housley about Gorges’ condition, which the bench boss describes as a “lower-body injury”. While this is not much to go off of, more details can be expected the longer that Gorges’ absence lasts.
In the meantime, Buffalo has recalled defenseman Zach Redmond from Rochester of the AHL. Redmond was acquired from the Montreal Canadiens earlier this month for Nicolas Deslauriers and will make his Sabres debut should he get into one of their upcoming games, perhaps even tonight against the Boston Bruins. While by any metric Redmond is a replacement-level player, his 16 games with the Canadiens last season was a bit of an outlier compared to his recent experience. Redmond played a semi-regular role for the Colorado Avalanche in 2014-15 and 2015-16, skating in 59 and 37 games respectively and posting a total of 26 points and a 115 blocked shots. Redmond is capable of stepping up and being a reliable man on the back end for Buffalo – and they need it. The Sabres currently rank 29th in points percentage and goal differential and are on a course for another disappointing season. Gorges has undeniably lost a step in recent years; perhaps Redmond can be the surprise catalyst in his place that gets the Buffalo blue line back in shape.
Bogosian Remains Week-To-Week
- It doesn’t appear like Zach Bogosian will be suiting up for the Sabres anytime soon. Head coach Phil Housley told John Vogl of the Buffalo News that the blueliner remains week-to-week and that “As we look further into it, we’ll have more information as we move forward”. Considering that Bogosian’s lower-body issue that was sustained at the end of the preseason was classified as a day-to-day issue for more than two weeks, Housley’s comments suggest that the 27-year-old will be out of the lineup for a while yet.
Buffalo Sabres Recall Taylor Fedun
After it was announced yesterday that the Buffalo Sabres would be without Jacob Josefson for weeks, the team has placed him on injured reserve. In his absence, the Sabres recalled Taylor Fedun from Rochester to serve as another option on defense. Josh Gorges was also missing from practice today, leaving the team with just six healthy defensemen prior to Fedun’s promotion.
The 29-year old Fedun actually played 27 games for the Sabres last season, recording seven points and 16 penalty minutes. The undrafted Princeton grad has carved out quite the professional career for himself, as a big part of several AHL teams. He’s bred from the new NHL, relying on his mobility more than strength to help him at both ends of the rink.
Buffalo knew that he’d be one of their first recalls in case of injury, signing him to a new two-year, two-way contract just before he hit free agency. While he’s unlikely to make much of a full-time impact for the Sabres, knowing that they can call him up to jump into the lineup provides a nice amount of depth. He will however need to clear waivers to go back down to Rochester once Gorges or Justin Falk get healthy.