NHL Postpones Several New Jersey Devils Games
More NHL games have been postponed, this time because of a COVID outbreak among the New Jersey Devils. At least the team’s next three games, including two against the Pittsburgh Penguins and one against the New York Rangers, have been postponed due to the COVID protocol. The Devils have ten players on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list today.
This makes 14 games that have been officially postponed during the first few weeks of the 2020-21 season. All of those contests were outside of the East Division, meaning this is the first disruption to the schedule for the Devils, Penguins, and Rangers.
The team’s training facilities have been closed to all players on the active roster effective immediately and will remain so until further notice. The league is continuing to review the Devils’ schedule. There could be further postponements beyond February 6, but at this point, only the next three games have been pushed.
East Notes: Drury, Palmieri, Blackwell, Eller
While earlier reports have suggested that the Pittsburgh Penguins have focused on two candidates for their open general manager position in Los Angeles Kings’ Ron Hextall and Montreal Canadiens’ Scott Mellanby, another candidate, New York Rangers’ assistant general manager Chris Drury had become a longshot due to the belief that the New York Rangers wouldn’t be granted to interview with the Penguins.
However, New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that the Rangers would not stand in the way of Drury becoming a general manager, although as of Saturday afternoon, there had been no such request from Pittsburgh. The 44-year-old Drury has become one of the most sought-after assistant general managers in the league and the scribe believes that the Rangers are well aware that they will lose Drury to a GM opportunity sooner than later.
- The New Jersey Devils are playing without forward Kyle Palmieri who was a late scratch today as the team announced that he will not play due to a COVID-related absence. Palmieri, who played Saturday, joins a growing list of Devils that is starting to give New Jersey more of an AHL than NHL look. The team is still without Mackenzie Blackwood, Connor Carrick, Aaron Dell, Travis Zajac and Sami Vatanen, although The Athletic’s Corey Masisak reports that Vatanen has finally arrived in Newark and could be ready to go soon.
- The New York Rangers are expected to be without forward Colin Blackwell for seven to 10 days due to an upper-body injury, according to The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello. Despite playing bottom-six minutes for New York so far this year, Blackwell has been productive, posting a goal and two assists in four games. The 27-year-old winger signed with the Rangers during the offseason after appearing in 27 games for Nashville last year.
- The Washington Capitals had an optional practice Sunday with Alex Ovechkin and Dmitry Orlov on the ice to get their legs back in after sitting out due to COVID-19 protocols. Both played Saturday, but in limited minutes. However, Lars Eller continued to skate after suffering an upper-body injury Thursday, according to the Washington Post’s Samantha Pell. He, however, remains in a non-contact jersey.
Snapshots: Zajac, Laine, Pastrnak
The New Jersey Devils have announced that Travis Zajac has been placed on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list, which will be released later today. He joins Mackenzie Blackwood as Devils that won’t make the trip to Buffalo for their matches this weekend due to the protocol. Head coach Lindy Ruff explained that the team isn’t making any excuses while they deal with the absence of some top players:
I think we’re becoming accustomed to it. We start the year without [Jesper] Bratt and Nico [Hischier]. But I think every team is dealing with those situations. It’s no excuse.
Zajac, who was supposed to celebrate his 1,000th regular season game this weekend, will have to wait for at least a little while. The 35-year-old forward has two goals in his first seven games.
- Another player that will have to wait the weekend before joining his teammates is Patrik Laine, who is finally on his way to Columbus this afternoon after acquiring his U.S. work visa. As Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports, Laine will face a 48-hour minimum quarantine period before he’s cleared to play after arriving in Columbus, but he is expected to debut on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars. Because he was dealing with a minor injury at the time of the trade, Laine actually hasn’t played since January 14, seeing very little practice time during that stretch at all. Though the Blue Jackets coaching staff were sending him video work to study, he won’t have much time to prepare if he’s in the lineup Tuesday night.
- David Pastrnak has declared himself fully healthy and ready to get back into the Boston Bruins lineup, a huge boost to a team that is already finding plenty of success without him. The Bruins are now 5-1-1 on the season and have scored 18 goals in their last four games, all wins. The return of Pastrnak will only make the team stronger as they continue their quest for an East Division title. Boston is currently two points behind the Washington Capitals, who are undefeated in regulation this season.
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 01/25/21
It appears as though there will be daily movement this season between the active roster and taxi squad. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of shuffle news each day.
- After a loss last night, the Calgary Flames have moved Derek Ryan and Oliver Kylington to the taxi squad. The team continues to do this on off days to accrue cap space, but will eventually need to put Ryan through waivers again. After suiting up last night, the 34-year-old center has now played four games on the season; once he plays ten, he’ll have to clear again to go back to the taxi squad.
- The New Jersey Devils have sent Nolan Foote from the taxi squad to the minor leagues, giving the young forward a chance to compete for an AHL role. The 20-year-old has still yet to make his professional debut, spending last season with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL.
- After Connor Ingram took a leave to enter the player assistance program, the Nashville Predators recalled Kasimir Kaskisuo to serve as the team’s taxi squad goaltender. The move leaves them awfully thin at the position, with Devin Cooley (he of six career professional games) the only other goaltender in the minor leagues on an NHL contract. Should the Predators face any injury trouble to roster options Juuse Saros or Pekka Rinne, they could quickly see the bottom of their depth chart.
- The Buffalo Sabres have moved Jonas Johansson to the taxi squad, a good indication that Carter Hutton is ready to return from his minor injury. The team has also moved Rasmus Asplund and Dustin Tokarski off the taxi squad, sending them to the Rochester Americans for the time being.
This page will be updated throughout the day as moves are officially announced.
Nico Hischier Resumes Skating, Jesper Bratt Should Be Available Next Week
New Jersey has yet to have top center Nico Hischier in the lineup this season but it appears as if he is getting closer to suiting up. Marc Ciampa of the Devils’ team site relays several updates from head coach Lindy Ruff who indicated that Hischier has started to skate on his own as he works his way back from a leg injury. While there’s no timetable for his return still, the fact he’s now back on the ice for workouts is certainly a big step in his rehab.
Meanwhile, winger Jesper Bratt is in town and is going through his mandatory quarantine period which means he should be available to begin skating with the team in the next few days. As for goaltender Aaron Dell, he has not yet received his work visa and thus has not been able to travel to New Jersey to start his quarantine period so the Devils will be waiting a while for their new backup to become available.
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 1/24/21
It appears as though there will be daily movement this season between the active roster and taxi squad. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of shuffle news each day.
- The Dallas Stars announced they have recalled forward Tanner Kero from their taxi squad after placing forward Joel Kiviranta on injured reserve. The 28-year-old Kero hasn’t made an NHL appearance since the 2017-18 season, but could get onto the ice depending on the injury status of Jamie Benn, who is a game-time decision. Kiviranta, who was listed as day-to-day Saturday after getting injured in practice, will have to sit out at least three games.
- The Detroit Red Wings announced they have recalled forwards Givani Smith and Taro Hirose from the taxi squad. Smith has been up and down between the NHL and taxi squad, while Hirose was recalled three days ago to the taxi squad from the AHL. Both are expected to make their season debuts on Sunday. Detroit also have re-assigned forward Riley Barber to the taxi squad. UPDATE: The Red Wings have reversed course, announcing they have sent Hirose and Smith back to the taxi squad after their game with Chicago ended.
- The Philadelphia Flyers announced they have loaned defenseman Derrick Pouliot from the taxi squad to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL. The team also announced some salary cap moves, sending forward Connor Bunnaman and Samuel Morin to their taxi squad.
- The Buffalo Sabres announced they have swapped young players as the team has sent forward Dylan Cozens to the taxi squad and recalled Casey Mittelstadt, who is expected to make his season debut Sunday. Cozens scored his first career NHL goal Friday, but head coach Ralph Krueger made it clear before the season that he intends to ease his young players into the lineup. The team has also activated forward Kyle Okposo from injured reserve. He has missed the team’s first five games with a lower-body injury.
- Las Vegas Review Journal’s David Schoen reports that the Vegas Golden Knights have activated defenseman Nicolas Hague off the taxi squad and moved center Cody Glass to the taxi squad, a similar move from two games ago as the team continues to balance their salary cap with rotating between five and six defensemen.
- The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reports that with two forwards (Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov), a defenseman (Dmitry Orlov) and a goaltender (Ilya Samsonov) out due to COVID-19 restrictions, the team was able to recall two players, including forwards Brian Pinho and Connor McMichael (as well as goaltender Craig Anderson), via the emergency recall exception rule and not count against their cap. McMichael is the most interesting of the two as the 2019 first-round pick will make his NHL debut Sunday.
- The New Jersey Devils announced they have assigned forward Jesper Boqvist to the taxi squad and they have recalled forward Nicholas Merkley, who is expected to make his season debut Sunday. Boqvist has appeared in four games for New Jersey, failing to register a point. Merkley, acquired from Arizona in the Taylor Hall trade last season, had a goal and an assist in four games last year with the Devils.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets already placed Brandon Dubinsky on LTIR earlier today, but the team also made a few other moves to get under the salary cap, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline. The scribe writes that both Alexandre Texier and Liam Foudy have been assigned to the taxi squad, but as paper moves to maximize their LTIR pool. The team has also recalled Emil Bemstrom and Stefan Matteau from the taxi squad.
- The New York Rangers announced they have recalled forward Colin Blackwell from their taxi squad and is likely to make his Rangers’ debut. The 27-year-old signed with the Rangers as a free agent after posting three goals and 10 points in 27 games for the Nashville Predators last season.
- The Calgary Flames made their standard game-day transaction, recalling Derek Ryan and Oliver Kylington from the taxi squad. Ryan has appeared in three games with no points, while Kylington has yet to make an appearance for Calgary this year.
- The Minnesota Wild announced they have recalled goaltender Andrew Hammond from their taxi squad with the status of Cam Talbot being day-to-day. In order to keep three goaltenders on the roster, the team has assigned netminder Hunter Jones from Iowa of the AHL to the taxi squad. Hammond has not made an appearance yet for the Wild.
- With the Bruins off, CapFriendly reports that Boston has shuffled forwards Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic plus defenseman Urho Vaakanainen to their taxi squad, continuing their near-daily movement. Steven Kampfer was reassigned to AHL Providence from the taxi squad to create room for Vaakanainen’s placement.
- Avalanche defenseman Conor Timmins was in the lineup for their game today against Anaheim, meaning that he has been recalled from the taxi squad. The 22-year-old has played in four games so far with Colorado this season, logging a little under 13 minutes per game.
- Pierre Engvall and Jason Spezza were both in the lineup for the Maple Leafs against Calgary today, meaning they were promoted from the taxi squad. To get back into cap compliance, Travis Boyd was sent to the taxi squad.
- After scoring in his Canadiens debut on Saturday, Montreal has returned Corey Perry to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly. The veteran will likely be recalled in time for their next game against Calgary on Thursday.
- The Ottawa Senators have returned winger Micheal Haley to their taxi squad, per CapFriendly. He was recalled for Saturday’s game against Winnipeg and played 7:39 while getting into a fight.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 01/20/21
Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. Other than the Montreal Canadiens, listed as TBA, and the Dallas Stars, the other 29 teams are covered on today’s list:
Carolina – Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin, Jordan Staal, Teuvo Teravainen
Columbus – Mikko Koivu
Detroit – Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri
Florida – Juho Lammikko
Minnesota Wild – Alex Stalock
Nashville – Mikael Granlund
New Jersey – Jesper Bratt*
NY Islanders – Josh Bailey*
Philadelphia – Shayne Gostisbehere
Tampa Bay – Curtis McElhinney
Washington Capitals – Evgeny Kuznetsov*, Dmitry Orlov*, Alex Ovechkin*, Ilya Samsonov*
Winnipeg – Anton Forsberg, Tucker Poolman
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: Eric Comrie, New Jersey Devils; Blake Coleman, Tampa Bay Lightning.
As for the missing teams, the Canadiens are on the road in Vancouver and have until 5:00pm local time to report, but are not expected to have any players in the protocol. As has been the case so far this season, the league declined to identify anyone from Dallas and will hold off on doing so until they are able to play in their first game, now scheduled for January 22. They had a significant outbreak early in camp as 17 of the 27 players that tested positive in training camp were from the Stars.
*denotes new addition
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 01/20/21
It appears as though there will be daily movement this season between the active roster and taxi squad. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of shuffle news each day.
- The New Jersey Devils finally have Eric Comrie out of the COVID protocol and have added the goaltender to the active roster. In response, Gilles Senn, who had been serving as the third goalie on the taxi squad, has been sent to the minor leagues. In his place, the team has added defensive prospect Kevin Bahl to the taxi squad.
- The Winnipeg Jets have moved Ville Heinola and Kristian Vesalainen back to the taxi squad while assigning David Gustafsson to the Manitoba Moose. On off days, you’ll often see the Jets rotate players on entry-level contracts through the taxi squad to save money, though this also could be opening up a spot for Tucker Poolman to return from the CPRA list or another transaction.
- With concerns that Philippe Myers could miss considerable time after leaving last night’s game with an injury, the Philadelphia Flyers have recalled Derrick Pouliot to the taxi squad. The 27-year-old defenseman played two games last season for the St. Louis Blues, spending most of the season in the AHL and recording 39 points in 58 games. The eighth-overall pick in 2012, Pouliot has 202 NHL regular season games to his name.
- The Nashville Predators have sent Mathieu Olivier back to the taxi squad, returning Ben Harpur to the AHL in the meantime. Olivier has played in two games this season and seemed likely to stay in the lineup for last night’s match, but the game was postponed due to several positive COVID-19 results on the Carolina Hurricanes. The 23-year-old has yet to record his first NHL goal through the first ten games of his career.
- Sam Montembeault has been sent to the Syracuse Crunch by the Florida Panthers, as the team waits out another COVID-related break in the schedule. The team has moved Riley Stillman into the resulting taxi squad spot for the time being, allowing them to save some cash and cap space while they wait to get back on the ice.
- The Los Angeles Kings have returned young defenseman Tobias Bjornfot and off-season addition Lias Andersson to the taxi squad. Veteran Mark Alt replaces Bjornfot on the active roster while forward Boko Imama has been reassigned from the taxi squad to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. The Kings seem as if they will take advantage of their nearby affiliate to switch up their active roster and taxi squafd fequently when playing at home.
This page will be updated throughout the day as more moves are officially announced.
New Jersey Devils Claim Aaron Dell
The New Jersey Devils have added some more goaltending depth, claiming Aaron Dell off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jason Spezza, the other Maple Leafs player on waivers, has cleared.
The claim of Dell, 31, comes as no surprise after the goaltending shuffle that has occurred over the last few weeks, which included the Devils claiming Eric Comrie as well. Given the fact that the team will now have four goaltenders on the NHL roster once quarantines are over, it seems likely that Comrie too will find himself back on waivers at some point. Scott Wedgewood, who is currently the Devils backup, hasn’t cleared waivers himself, meaning he can’t go to the taxi squad or AHL either at the moment.
It’s a complicated scenario, but the crux of it is that the Devils have turned a glaring lack of depth into an overloaded position in a matter of days. Since Corey Crawford‘s unexpected retirement just before the start of the season, New Jersey was facing a perilous situation with only three goaltenders in the entire organization. Now, after acquiring Comrie and Dell, they likely have too many.
Dell doesn’t have an exceptionally long history in the NHL but has spent the last four seasons as the primary backup with the San Jose Sharks, posting strong enough numbers. Through 107 appearances in the NHL, he has a .908 save percentage and a 48-34-12 record. With the veteran off to New Jersey, the Maple Leafs are back to Michael Hutchinson as their third-string option. Luckily, he cleared waivers earlier this month and can remain with the taxi squad for the time being.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Minor Transactions: 01/13/21
While many players spent the day preparing to finally return to play, some for the first time in close to a year, while some awaited the final cuts of training camp and assignments to the minors or taxi squad, others still were involved in different transactions. The NHL season getting started is the dominant headline, but other pro and junior leagues are already underway and there were plenty of moves to be made involving former and current NHL players and prospects alike:
- While oldest brother Jamie has seemingly called it a career after more than 600 NHL games and youngest brother Brock was a lock to make the Carolina Hurricanes roster for a sixth consecutive year, middle child Tye McGinn is of course the odd man out. While the 30-year-old forward has not played on an NHL contract since 2017-18, he has remained a force in the minors on AHL contracts. However, whether he was unable to find another minor league deal or simply unsatisfied with doing so yet again, McGinn is on the move overseas. McGinn has signed a one-year deal with the Fischtown Pinguins of Germany’s DEL, the team announced. Fischtown was a playoff team last year and is off to a good start through six games, but the roster is largely devoid of North American experience and McGinn should step into a core role right away.
- Fellow former NHL forward Landon Ferraro is also on the move in Germany. After suiting up for the DEL’s Eisbaren Berlin last year, Ferraro has been playing for the second-tier Lowen Frankfurt so far this season. However, with the top level back in action, Ferraro has secured a new contract with Kolner Haie, the club announced. The Cologne-based team includes a number of NHL veterans and should be a top contender in the DEL this year.
- Back across the Atlantic, the AHL’s Binghamton Devils have signed AHL veteran Cameron Darcy to a one-year deal. The former Tampa Bay Lightning prospect spent last season with the San Antonio Rampage, recording 18 points in 45 games. The two-way center is entering his sixth pro campaign and will play in his 250th AHL game in his season debut.
- Jack and Nick Poehling, the twin brothers of Montreal Canadiens top prospect Ryan Poehling, are on their way to AHL training camp after being recalled by the Ontario Reign. The duo left St. Cloud State University last spring after four seasons, one year after Ryan’s early departure, and signed a one-year deal with the Reign, AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings. However, given the AHL’s delayed start, they got their pro careers started on loan to the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits. While the Poehling brothers are no Sedin twins, they were top scorers for a strong St. Cloud program in their senior year and could make an impact for Ontario this season.