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Previous Post-Roster Freeze Trades

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As of 11:59pm last night (Eastern time), the NHL’s annual holiday roster freeze kicked in.

While there were some rumors kicking around prior to the freeze, there wasn’t anything that seemed imminent. However, we have seen trades made within days of the roster freeze ending. Here are the previous post-roster freeze trades of past few years.

2015-16: On December 28, 2015, the Edmonton Oilers traded former starter Ben Scrivens to the Montreal Canadiens for Zack Kassian. Both teams were looking for a comeback story: Scrivens had fallen to fourth on the Oilers depth chart, while Kassian had just cleared waivers after completing the NHL’s substance abuse program. Scrivens played 15 games in Montreal, winning just five times. While one of those was a 5-1 win for Scrivens over his former team, the Oilers have likely won this trade. Kassian has gotten his act together and is a solid bottom six energy forward/ penalty killer with 15 points in 67 games so far. Scrivens is now playing in the KHL.

2014-15: Just a day after the roster freeze ended, the Oilers acquired Derek Roy from Nashville for Mark Arcobello. Roy had just cleared waivers and had 10 points in 26 games with the Predators. He found immediate success with the Oilers, scoring 22 points in 46 games. He remains one of the few centers to ever get consistent results from Nail Yakupov, who scored 25 points in 35 games with Roy as his center. Arcobello had 12 points in 36 games for an Oilers team with almost no depth at the center position: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Boyd Gordon were the only legitimate NHL centers on the roster, with Leon Draisaitl just days away from being sent to the WHL. Arcobello played just four games in Nashville before bouncing around to Pittsburgh and Arizona before the end of the season.

2013-14: On December 30, 2013, the Calgary Flames traded former OHL scorer Greg Nemisz to the Carolina Hurricanes for tough guy Kevin Westgarth. Nemisz, a former first-round pick of the Flames and double Memorial Cup champion with the Windsor Spitfires, played parts of two seasons for the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate. However, after suffering three season-ending injuries in as many seasons, Nemisz retired. He’s now an assistant coach for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. Westgarth played 36 games for the Flames, which were his last in the NHL. He failed to stick with the Oilers on a PTO the following year, and ended up playing his last year of hockey for the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League in the U.K.

Interestingly enough, only one of the six players (Kassian) is still in the NHL. Scrivens and Roy are now in the KHL, Arcobello is playing in the Swiss League, and Westgarth and Nemisz are retired.

If you’re handicapping this year’s post-roster freeze movements, expect the Oilers to make a minor trade and for both players to be out of the NHL within two years.

Evening Snapshots: Spectacular Sophomores, Hartman

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  • The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton makes his case for five players who avoided the dreaded sophomore slump this season. At the top of his list is Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who Clinton writes is the reason for the Oilers’ turnaround this season. Had it not been for the clavicle injury last season, McDavid would have had one of the best back-to-back seasons that rivaled Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Next is the Blackhawks’ Artemi Panarin, who Clinton believes the Hawks have to absolutely re-sign at all costs. That would certainly cause some financial posturing, but he believes Panarin to be a devastating personnel loss should he go elsewhere. The Winnipeg Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers, the Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin, and the Blues’ Colton Parayko round out Clinton’s top five.
  • The Blackhawks have been on a tear lately and rookie Ryan Hartman has been one of the brightest spots for Chicago. Chris Hine writes that the young forward has learned quite a bit about being more patient on the ice and not corralling penalties as he would have in the past. Hine describes him as an irritant, there’s a reason for Hartman’s change of play:

“You have an opportunity to play in the NHL and be in the lineup every night. If you’re going to take penalties and do that kind of stuff, you’re not going to be in the lineup for long,” Hartman said. “I just try to stay out of the box as much as possible, and it related to me being on the ice more.”

Drawing penalties instead of causing them has been a boon for the Hawks and the young forward. He’s also shown a knack for scoring timely goals. Hartman notched the winner against San Jose on Sunday night and already has six on the season. Playing for a coach known to favor veterans, Hartman is making the most of his chance and certainly justifying his playing time from Joel Quenneville.

Evening Snapshots: Carolina-Detroit, Toronto-Anaheim

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A look at a couple of tonight’s games around the NHL:

  • 7:45 pm: Per St. James, who spoke with Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, the game has been cancelled.
  • 7:43pm: The next update looks to be in about 15 minutes tweets the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. More boos and St. James feesl the game may be called.
  • 7:08pm: The Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan tweets that repairs continue on the coolant that is causing the problems. Another update will be at 7:30pm CST. Kulfan reports that the crowd booed the announcement, which is understandable after the game was supposed to begin at 6:00pm CST.
  • The game tonight between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Detroit Red Wings will be delayed at least an hour (as of 6:55pm EST) due to a malfunctioning ice-cooling system. According to the team, they discovered a freon leak in the compressor and are working to fix the issue. Neither team has had its pre-game warmups yet, so fans are in for a bit of a wait. The Red Wings, however, are up against a time crunch because they play tomorrow night in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. According to Team President Don Waddell, the NHL imposes a “22-hour rule” between starts. That means that any game must start at least 22 hours before a team’s next start. If the ice cannot be repaired in time, the NHL may postpone the game to a mutually available time.
  • If the Detroit Red Wings end up playing, they will be without Tomas Jurco, reports the Detroit Free Press’s Helene St. James. Jurco has the flu and is considered day-to-day. Since returning from back surgery, the Czech forward remains scoreless in nine games and is averaging less than ten minutes of playing time a game.
  • Tonight’s matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs marks returns for two people: current Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, and current Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen. Carlyle coached the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2012-15 before management fired him midway through the 2014-15 season. Carlyle remained outside the NHL until the Ducks fired Bruce Boudreau and hired Carlyle this offseason. Andersen’s return pits him against his successor John Gibson. The Ducks decided to stick with the young Gibson, and trade the then-RFA Andersen to the Maple Leafs. Both goalies won the Jennings Trophy last year with the NHL’s fewest goals against.

Snapshots: Anisimov, Crawford, Kennedy

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • Chicago Blackhawks forward Artem Anisimov is out tonight against the San Jose Sharks, reports TSN’s Mark Lazerus. Anisimov misses the game with an undisclosed injury and is considered day-to-day. The centerman is tied for 19th in NHL scoring this season, and the Blackhawks hope that his injury is nothing serious.
  • Staying with the Chicago Blackhawks, coach Joel Quenneville told reporters that goalie Corey Crawford could return as early as December 23rd. Crawford is currently recovering from an emergency appendectomy suffered on December 3rd. Backup goaltender Scott Darling had been holding down the fort admirably until recently, stringing together a streak of starts without letting in more than two goals. In his last two games, however, he’s let in four goals apiece. Chicago won both those games but it seems that Darling’s play is coming back down to earth.
  • Tim Kennedy’s profession situation gains some clarity today. Earlier, Kennedy signed a minor-league deal with the Rochester Americans—AHL affiliates of the Buffalo Sabres—but was claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes because any player playing overseas must first pass through waivers before rejoining an NHL organization. It was unclear whether Kennedy would report to Carolina (or Charlotte, where the Hurricane’s AHL affiliate plays), but now Jon Vogl of the Buffalo News reports that the Hurricanes have loaned Kennedy to Rochester. Before signing with Rochester—and being claimed by Carolina—Kennedy played in Sweden for Lulea of the Swedish Elite League.

Injury Notes: Green, Cizikas, Huberdeau

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After taking a late hit from the Anaheim Ducks’ Ryan Kesler as the game was ending last night, Red Wings’ defenseman Mike Green is “probably day to day” according to GM Ken Holland (via Brendan Savage of MLive). While the team is taking the day off, they’ll know more about his condition on Monday. The Red Wings won the game on the back of Tomas Tatar’s first career hat trick, and Green logged his normal heavy workload. The veteran defender has 18 points in 32 games this season and is on pace for another solid year. With 413 points in 681 games, Green has been one of the most consistent offensive producers from the back end over the last decade, though he hasn’t suited up for 80+ games since 2007-08. Injuries seem to find him, and we’ll keep an eye on his status heading into Monday’s matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes.

  • The Islanders announced today that Casey Cizikas will be out for a while, as he’s unable to even skate yet. The 25-year old center missed the Islanders’ last game with an upper-body injury, and it’s unclear if he’ll be back before the Christmas break. Cizikas has taken on a larger role with the team this season due to their lack of depth down the middle, playing over 14 minutes a night. With 13 points in 29 games, he was well on his way to a career year before the injury – his previous being 29 last season.  In his absence, Brock Nelson moved back to center and Anders Lee moved up to the top line. Cal Clutterbuck, a longtime winger of Cizikas, was skating alongside Ryan Strome.
  • Down in Florida, the return of Jonathan Huberdeau is inching closer and closer. Harvey Filakov of the Sun Sentinel tweeted out some photos of the young forward skating by himself today as the Panthers took the day off from the ice. Huberdeau has missed the entire season so far with a leg injury, after putting up a career high 20 goals and 59 points last season. As Florida struggles to a 14-13-5 record, they’ll welcome Huberdeau back with open arms and expect the former 3rd overall pick to help them push for a playoff spot down the stretch. The team could really use him, as they currently rank 23rd in goals for.

Roster Moves: Leighton, Andrighetto, Blidh

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Michael Leighton is both the starting goaltender for the Charlotte Checkers, and backup for the Carolina Hurricanes. After coming in to relieve Cam Ward on Tuesday, Leighton was sent down for just one day to make the start last night in Charlotte. He fared much better in the AHL match, stopping 33 of 35 shots en route to an overtime win.

Leighton has played in 15 games between the two levels this year, and actually has the best save percentage of his AHL career thus far at .933. While he hasn’t fared as well in the NHL, he’s given the team a veteran option at both levels while Eddie Lack works his way back from a concussion and Alex Nedeljkovic struggles through his first professional season.

  • The Montreal Canadiens have made another few moves, bringing Sven Andrighetto and Mark Barberio up for another stint with the NHL team. Both players have spent time with the Canadiens this season, and will now get another chance to impress. Andrighetto, the younger of the two, is still considered a prospect in Montreal circles despite playing in more than half a season a year ago. Just 23-years old, he put up 17 points in 44 games for the Canadiens a year ago and will look to contribute offensively again. Both players are off to wonderful starts in the AHL, with 22 and 19 points respectively. At a point-per-game pace, Barberio is showing that he may deserve more than the occasional callup.
  • In Boston, the club has made a swap, calling up Anton Blidh and sending Danton Heinen back to the AHL. Blidh, 21, has played four games for Boston this season, just a year after making the trip to North America. After playing in the Swedish leagues as a teenager, Blidh came over to spend an entire season in Providence last year, registering 14 points in 65 games. Off to a nice start this season with 10 in 21, he’ll likely resume his role on the fourth line with the NHL club. Heinen, 21, has played in eight games for the Bruins this season, registering zero points but logging a fair bit of icetime including a few looks on the powerplay. The former University of Denver Pioneer signed with the Bruins late last season and has scored 15 points in 15 career AHL games.

Jordan Staal, Elias Lindholm Cleared To Return

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The Carolina Hurricanes are set to get a pair of key players back in the lineup tonight as centers Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm are expected to play when they take on Vancouver, reports Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News and Observer (Twitter links).

Staal has missed the last seven games with a concussion and had suffered a setback in his recovery just last week.  He has just nine points in 21 games despite playing a top six role but is among the league leaders in faceoff percentage at 60.1% and logs over 18 minutes of ice time, third among Carolina forwards.

As for the Lindholm, the 22 year old has missed five straight games with a lower body injury.  He’s off to a particularly slow start with just two goals and five points through 23 games.  The former first rounder (fifth overall in 2013) has put up 39 points in each of the last two seasons.

Staal and Lindholm are expected to comprise two-thirds of a new look line alongside Joakim Nordstrom, Alexander adds in a separate tweet.

[Related: Hurricanes Depth Chart]

Comparative Standings: One Year Ago

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With the first third of the season completed for all but Columbus (who have amazingly played just 26 games, six fewer than the Winnipeg Jets), there have been some huge swings from a year ago.

Those Blue Jackets are the league’s most improved team, with a staggering 18 more points through 26 games than last season. Their huge swing is only matched by the Dallas Stars equally amazing drop-off of 18 points the other way. The Jackets can attest their improvement to the development of young players like Zach Werenski and Alexander Wennberg, while the Stars have seen a litany of injuries to their star players including Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya.

The Central Division as a whole is off to a slower start this year, with only the Chicago Blackhawks bettering their 2015-16 record. The Colorado Avalanche, expected to take a step forward with their young core has suffered the exact same fate with 23 points through 27 games.

The two biggest Canadian rebuild stories, Edmonton and Toronto have both improved, though not as largely as the fan bases in each city might have you believe. Four points for the Maple Leafs and five for the Oilers lend credence to the idea that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish that counts. Though both franchises have a lot to look forward to, keeping up an advanced pace for an entire season is extremely difficult. The two teams finished last season with just 69 and 70 points respectively.

Below are the current standings. In parenthesis is the difference in points through the same amount of games last year.

Read more

Carolina Hurricanes Send Phil Di Giuseppe To AHL

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As the Carolina Hurricanes come home from a three game west coast road trip to play the next four on home ice, they’ve decided to send Phil Di Giuseppe to the minors to have him get some more ice time. After playing just 7:31 on Saturday night’s loss to the San Jose Sharks, Di Giuseppe had clearly lost the confidence of the coaching staff.

A gritty forechecking winger, Di Giuseppe had been called up most recently to replace Jordan Staal after the Canes alternate captain suffered a concussion late last month. In 18 games for the club this season, Di Giuseppe had only registered two points, despite initially getting ample playing time with a number of skilled players.

With Elias Lindholm closing in on a return from his lower-body injury, it figures that he’ll likely get back into the lineup Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks. The Hurricanes, at 11-11-6, are struggling to find much early season success despite a developing blue line and youth-infused lineup. With only 68 goals through 28 games, the team will need players like Lindholm to start producing like they’re capable of. The 22-year old had a career high 17 goals in 2014-15, but has notched only two so far this season. He has a long way to match the 39 points he’s scored in back to back seasons, let alone improving on those numbers as expected.

Jakub Nakladal Signs In KHL

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One of this off-season’s more intriguing stories has finally come to an end, as Jakub Nakladal has opted to sign overseas, giving up his dream of finding an NHL team… at least for now. The 28-year-old defenseman has joined Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on a one-year contract, as confirmed by KHL insider Aivis Kalnins. Nakladal will immediately become one of the most talented defenseman in the Kontinental League.

After a long, successful career in Europe, including multiple seasons in the KHL, Nakladal made the trip across the Atlantic prior to last season after signing a one-year, $925K deal with the Calgary Flames. Though he appeared in only 27 games with the team and posted just five points, the Flames’ fan base was highly supportive of bringing the Czech native back for another year. Nakladal had been very impressive in 35 games with Calgary’s AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, and had done enough in his limited NHL minutes to impress many fans. A stay-at-home defenseman who is very sound in his own end but also has strong possession numbers, implying an ability to move the puck as well. Many felt that, given the opportunity to play more and show his ability, Nakladal could turn out to be top-six defenseman. Although he is not much of a scorer or play-maker, Nakladal is a responsible blue liner who could have helped a young, offensively-minded Flames squad.

Instead, the summer dragged on and no contract offer came from Calgary. As July turned to August, and the free agent market for defenseman dried up, Nakladal was left as one of the few viable options available. Despite rumors, no firm offer ever presented itself. Even after Nakladal impressed many on the global stage with a strong performance with the Czech Republic team that surprised many at the World Cup of Hockey, nothing came immediately following. Finally, on October 9th, Nakladal signed a one-year, $600K pact with the Carolina Hurricanes. However, it seemed that as soon as he got there he was gone. After playing in just three games and posting a -4, the Hurricanes terminated Nakladal’s contract just two weeks ago after he cleared waivers. Nakladal was a free agent once more and it was clear that there was no market for his services in the NHL this season.

Now, Nakladal heads back home to Europe, where he has spent the majority of his career, and is set to join Lokomotiv. Currently third in the Tarasov Division of the KHL’s Western Conference, Lokomotiv is one of the better defensive teams in the league and is about to get even better. Joining former NHLers like Max Talbot, Brandon Kozun, and Stanislav Chistov, Nakladal hopes to shine for Lokomotiv this season and lead the team to success in an effort to again try to earn the attention of NHL decision makers. Expect the defensive defenseman to try his luck at an NHL deal again next summer, as time is running out as he approaches 30 years old.

 

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