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Minor Transactions: 11/14/19

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If you’re looking for NHL action tonight the league has plenty of it, with eight games on the schedule including a Western Conference tilt between two of the best centers in the league. Nathan MacKinnon will lead the Colorado Avalanche into Edmonton to face off against Connor McDavid and the Oilers, with both teams trying to continue their early season success. As teams prepare for the action, we’ll be right here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Jonathan Ericsson and Joe Hicketts, giving them some more depth on defense for the rest of their road trip. The Red Wings are out west to take on the Los Angeles Kings tonight after defeating the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.
  • J.C. Beaudin and Jonathan Davidsson have been sent to the AHL by the Ottawa Senators, as Logan Brown is ready to return to action. Brown has two points in four games with the team this season after his agent was outspoken about his lack of NHL opportunity so far.
  • The Dallas Stars have recalled Rhett Gardner, bringing him up for the second time this season. Gardner got into seven games with Dallas last time around, but is still looking for his first NHL point.
  • San Jose Sharks defenseman Dalton Prout has been recalled from his conditioning stint and is expected to play tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. The 29-year old has just one game under his belt so far with the Sharks after signing a one-year, $800K contract this summer.

Minor Transactions: 11/13/19

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Of all the talent suiting up in the NHL last night, perhaps the most unlikely star emerged in Colorado. Avalanche goaltender Adam Werner was forced into action when Pavel Francouz suffered an injury and made 40 saves en route to a shutout in his first career game. The Swedish netminder was selected in the fifth round three years ago and dominated the SHL last season.

Five more games are on the schedule tonight and as teams prepare, PHR will be right here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • Late last night the Montreal Canadiens decided to send Ryan Poehling back to the minor leagues, giving him a chance to get some more ice time. Poehling had been playing fewer than ten minutes a night for the Canadiens and will get a bigger opportunity with the Laval Rocket.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have recalled prospect Michael Spacek from the minor leagues, giving the young forward the first NHL opportunity of his career. Selected in the fourth round in 2015, he was a standout for the Czech Republic at the World Juniors and has been a regular for the Manitoba Moose the last two seasons.
  • Zack MacEwen and Tyler Graovac have both been recalled by the Vancouver Canucks, who have also reassigned Jalen Chatfield. Chatfield did not actually suit up for the Canucks on his recall; the 23-year-old has yet to make his NHL debut. The team is back in action tomorrow against the Dallas Stars.
  • Jonathan Ericsson is back up with the Detroit Red Wings, at least for the time being. The team announced that the long-time defenseman, recently buried in the AHL, has been recalled, while Justin Abdelkader and Patrik Nemeth have been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to November 10th.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Abdelkader, Lewis

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The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week and at the very top is a name not many expected when the season began. Ottawa Senators goaltender Anders Nilsson has been given the first star after stopping 96 of 101 shots for a 3-0 record. Nilsson has actually been excellent since joining the Senators last season, posting a .919 save percentage in 32 appearances.

Two youngsters took home the other two spots, as Auston Matthews and Cale Makar were named second and third respectively. The Toronto Maple Leafs forward has jumped all the way up to sixth in the NHL scoring race after recording nine points last week, while Makar now easily leads all rookies with 17 points through the first part of the season and looks to be running away with the Calder Trophy.

  • The Detroit Red Wings will be without Justin Abdelkader for at least three weeks according to head coach Jeff Blashill. The veteran forward is out with a mid-body injury after blocking a shot in Sunday’s game. Once an important part of the Red Wings’ attack, Abdelkader has zero goals through the first 16 games and is averaging just 13 minutes a night.
  • Trevor Lewis has been placed on injured reserve after missing Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury. It’s not clear how long Lewis will be out, but his absence just opens up more opportunity for the young forwards in Los Angeles to show the Kings’ front office what they can do.

Minor Transactions: 11/11/19

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A new week begins by celebrating Veterans or Remembrance Day (depending on your place of origin), a cause linked closely to the hockey world for some time. There are two games on tap around the NHL, including the teams from the capitals of both Canada and the United States. Washington will try to keep their recent hot streak rolling against the Arizona Coyotes, while Ottawa travels to Carolina in search of their third consecutive win. As those and the rest of the league’s teams prepare for action, we’ll be right here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent Alexander Volkov back to the minor leagues after the young forward played in four games with the team. Volkov, 22, was given an opportunity with some of Tampa Bay’s best forwards, but failed to record his first NHL point. There is plenty of time for that though as he looks to be quite high in the prospect depth chart for the Lightning.
  • After giving him a chance to travel with the Buffalo Sabres to Sweden for the Global Series games, Lawrence Pilut has been returned to the minor leagues. The Swedish defenseman didn’t actually play in the overseas games, but still got to experience the trip as a member of an NHL club. Pilut hasn’t played for the Sabres yet this season, but does have six points in eight minor league appearances.
  • Though there has been no update yet on Torey Krug’s status after he left last night’s game, the Boston Bruins have recalled Urho Vaakanainen from the minor leagues under emergency conditions. That would suggest that Krug is out for at least one game, but we’ll have to wait and see later today.
  • The Detroit Red Wings are on a heater since acquiring Robby Fabbri, and now bring back another exciting young forward. Givani Smith has been recalled by the team for the second time this season. Smith has played in three games for the Red Wings so far but is still looking for his first NHL point.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights don’t play until Wednesday and have completed their usual off-day assignment of Nicolas Roy and Nicolas Hague, but the pair have a third member on the bus to the AHL. Cody Glass has also been sent to the Chicago Wolves today, a curious move given his success so far this season. Glass has seen his ice time reduced significantly over the last two games, playing fewer than 12 minutes in each.
  • Gavin Bayreuther didn’t leave Winnipeg with the Dallas Stars and instead was reassigned to the Texas Stars who play the Manitoba Moose this afternoon. The 25-year old defenseman hasn’t played in a game for Dallas yet this season.
  • Brendan Guhle has been recalled by the Anaheim Ducks, while the team reassigned Simon Benoit to the AHL. Guhle was sent down at the end of October and has played well with the San Diego Gulls, registering four points in four games.

Minor Transactions: 11/08/19

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So much for a Colorado Avalanche team struggling to score without two members of their top line. The team exploded for six second period goals last night to down the Nashville Predators 9-4, but did lose another few bodies to injury. While we wait for news on Nathan MacKinnon’s precautionary removal, the rest of the league is preparing for the weekend action. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

  • Last night the Detroit Red Wings sent Joe Hicketts back to the minor leagues, ending his short run in the NHL. The 23-year old defenseman averaged just over 18 minutes a game in four contests, but will have to wait for his next opportunity at the highest level.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled veteran forward Andy Andreoff while loaning Mikhail Vorobyev back to the minor leagues. Andreoff, 28, hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2017-18 season with the Los Angeles Kings, but does have seven points in 10 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
  • After clearing waivers, Tomas Jurco and Nic Petan have both been assigned to the minor leagues by their respective teams. Martin Marincin has avoided that fate for the time being, though the Toronto Maple Leafs are still expected to clear a few more bodies before Zach Hyman returns next week.
  • Otto Koivula is back up from the minor leagues for the New York Islanders, which could mean their injured forwards aren’t quite ready to return just yet. Jordan Eberle and Leo Komarov both practiced in regular jerseys today, but aren’t guaranteed to be ready for tomorrow’s afternoon game.
  • Jalen Chatfield has received his first call-up of the season and is on his way to join the Vancouver Canucks. The 23-year old defenseman has yet to make his NHL debut and will serve as insurance for Chris Tanev who is dealing with injury.
  • Kyle Capobianco has been sent back to the AHL, meaning Jordan Oesterle may be ready to go for the Arizona Coyotes. The 22-year old Capobianco has to be used to this by now after being involved in six transactions since the start of the season.
  • Gavin Bayreuther has been recalled by the Dallas Stars, giving the team an extra defenseman as they deal with injuries on the back end. The 25-year old played 19 games for Dallas last season, scoring five points and recording 10 penalty minutes.

Detroit Red Wings Acquire Robby Fabbri

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The Detroit Red Wings have acquired Robby Fabbri from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Jacob de La Rose a swap of disappointing high draft picks from a few years ago.

Fabbri, 23, comes with much more fanfare because of his past, but it is hard to know exactly what the Red Wings are getting. Selected 21st overall in 2014, the speedy Guelph Storm winger looked like a lock to become a middle-six scoring forward that could help on the powerplay. Fabbri did exactly that in his first season in the NHL, scoring 18 goals and 37 points as a rookie in 2015-16.

Unfortunately, his career would be completely derailed by major knee injuries thereafter. Fabbri would miss the entire 2017-18 season and has played just 164 total games in his NHL career. He had just six points in 32 contests in 2018-19 and has been ineffective during limited opportunity this year. In Detroit he’ll be given a bigger chance, but it is a disappointing return for the Blues after they invested so much in the young forward.

The 24-year old de La Rose never did grow into the two-way power forward center that the Montreal Canadiens were hoping for when they picked him 34th overall in 2013. Instead, he found himself bouncing up and down from the minor leagues for short stints, never finding much consistency in his game or his opportunity. Eventually, the Canadiens decided that they could no longer justify his roster spot and put him on waivers where the Red Wings snatched him up, though the results wouldn’t really change.

In 60 games last season de La Rose scored just nine points, and though he’s off to a better pace this time around—four in 16—it appears he’ll never be much of an offensive threat in the NHL.

Amazingly, the two carry the same $900K cap hit and will both become restricted free agents at the end of the season.

Overseas Notes: Scherbak, Shore, Prince, Sulak

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A short and tumultuous tenure with the KHL’s Avangard Omsk came to end on Thursday for Nikita Scherbak. The former top prospect of the Montreal Canadiens made his return to Russia this off-season, but his KHL debut was met with criticism and he managed to record just six points in his first 16 games with Avangard, not including some healthy scratches. The two sides agreed that a termination of the contract and a fresh start was the best course of action. Less than a week later, Scherbak has found a new home in the KHL. Traktor Chelyabinsk has announced the signing of Scherbak to a contract for the remainder of the season. Given Scherbak’s struggles to begin the season, as well as with the Los Angeles Kings last year, it seems his name value continues to be enough to find employment. The 2014 first-round pick was once a scoring dynamo in the WHL and showed glimpses of that ability in the minors, but was unable to put it all together in the NHL or with Avangard. Perhaps things will go differently with Traktor, where Scherbak may very well be the best player on the roster.

  • While Scherbak found a new job, the story out of the KHL today has been former NHLers losing their jobs. The league announced today that Dinamo Minsk has parted ways with Drew Shore and are preparing to do the same with Shane Prince, who has been placed on waivers. Sadly for the Belarus-based club, the moves are likely financially-driven. Shore was the team’s scoring leader with 17 points in 24 games, while Prince was third with 13 points in 17 games. The two were fixtures on the scoreboard, but unfortunately didn’t do enough to make an impact in the standings. Minsk has the second-worst record in the KHL, which likely prompted the team’s recent addition of Ryan Spooner. However, the team likely has to shed salary as a result, and Shore and Prince are both established import players. Neither will have any trouble finding another job soon.
  • Severstal Cherepovets is another team cutting ties with a former NHLer, as they have terminated the contract of defenseman Libor Sulak. Sulak, who played in the Detroit Red Wings organization last year, returned to Europe this summer, but has struggled greatly. He has just two points and a -10 rating in 19 games and his release is far more warranted on a performance basis than his counterparts in Minsk. The future is unclear for Sulak, who may have trouble finding another job in the KHL and has likely lost his opportunity to play in North America.

Trevor Daley Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Detroit Red Wings have placed Trevor Daley on injured reserve once again, retroactive to November 2nd when he last suited up for the team. In his place comes Dylan McIlrath who has been recalled for the first time this season.

The 10th-overall pick in 2010, McIlrath never did become the physical, shutdown defender the New York Rangers had envisioned. In fact, the 27-year old has played just 50 games in the NHL over his long professional career, spending much more time in the minor leagues for three different organizations.

McIlrath did however play seven games for the Red Wings last season, and has been a staple on the Grand Rapids Griffins blueline for several seasons now. The 6’4″ defenseman was actually re-signed to a two-year, two-way contract in May and cleared waivers before the beginning of the season.

For Daley, this is a relatively quick return to the injured reserve list after spending some time there earlier this season. He was only activated on October 15th and has 11 games under his belt, with no points yet to show. In fact, Daley is averaging fewer than 15 minutes a game this year, by far the lowest amount of his career. The 36-year old is nearing the end of a very productive career, and will need to find some modicum of health to even play a full-time role on the rebuilding Red Wings.

Limited Rental Trade Options Could Make Athanasiou Detroit's Best Trade Chip

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  • With the Red Wings struggling early on, it certainly seems as if they’ll be sellers before the trade deadline. However, as MLive’s Ansar Khan points out, GM Steve Yzerman’s options are relatively limited given that the veterans on expiring contracts that they have to sell aren’t likely to attract much interest so someone like Andreas Athanasiou may ultimately be their best trade chip.  He has struggled considerably to start the season but he did reach the 30-goal mark last season and has another season of team control after this one as a restricted free agent.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Seventh Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended.  For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)
7th Overall: Ryan McDonagh, Columbus Blue Jackets (12)
8th Overall: James van Riemsdyk, Boston Bruins (2)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)
11th Overall: Jake Muzzin, Carolina Hurricanes (141)
12th Overall: Kyle Turris, Montreal Canadiens (3)
13th Overall: David Perron, St. Louis Blues (26)
14th Overall: Mikael Backlund, Colorado Avalanche (24)
15th Overall: Evgenii Dadonov, Edmonton Oilers (71)
16th Overall: Alec Martinez, Minnesota Wild (95)
17th Overall: Carl Hagelin, New York Rangers (168)
18th Overall: Lars Eller, St. Louis Blues (13)
19th Overall: Alex Killorn, Anaheim Ducks (77)
20th Overall: Nick Bonino, Pittsburgh Penguins (173)
21st Overall: Pat Maroon, Edmonton Oilers (161)
22nd Overall: Paul Byron, Montreal Canadiens (179)
23rd Overall: Sam Gagner, Nashville Predators (6)
24th Overall: Justin Braun, Calgary Flames (201)
25th Overall: Ian Cole, Vancouver Canucks (18)
26th Overall: Brandon Sutter, St. Louis Blues (11)

Sutter manages to hold on to a spot in the first round but takes the second-largest drop of any first-round selection in this redraft.  That’s a fitting spot for someone who has carved out a reasonable career for himself but still hasn’t really lived up to expectations.

Coming out of WHL Red Deer where he played for his father briefly (before Brent went to the NHL with New Jersey and Calgary), Sutter was billed as a potential key two-way center, someone that could score enough to hold down a top-six role but also go against some top opponents as well.

His first two seasons in Carolina following his time in junior were the worst and best of his career.  He struggled mightily in his rookie year but still managed to get into 50 games with the Hurricanes but managed just six points.  However, things were looking up for his sophomore campaign as he reached the 40-point mark, something he hasn’t done in the nine years since then.

His output dipped over the next two seasons which made him expendable in the eyes of Carolina.  They flipped him to Pittsburgh back at the draft in 2012 as part of the package that saw Jordan Staal join his brother Eric with the Hurricanes.

The expectations weren’t as high for Sutter with the Penguins as they were with Carolina.  With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the fold, all they needed from Sutter was to play reliable third line minutes.  That didn’t exactly happen and it wasn’t too long before their search for a more permanent fixture behind those two was underway.

In the 2015 offseason after a trio of quiet seasons in Pittsburgh, he was moved to Vancouver in a swap of centers with Nick Bonino being part of the package going the other way.  (Bonino spent two seasons with Pittsburgh where he played rather well before going to Nashville in free agency.)  The expectations for Sutter with the Canucks were similar to his time with Pittsburgh but as injuries struck and the pace of the game has grown quicker, his role has dropped in recent years to the point where he has been a regular on the fourth line and has even spent a bit of time as a scratch.

Nonetheless, despite all of that, Sutter is in the top ten in games played from this draft class and will reach the 700 games mark later this month.  That type of longevity is certainly impressive and while he hasn’t had the career that the Hurricanes envisioned when they picked him, he still has done pretty well for himself all things considered.

Now we turn our focus to the 27th pick in the draft which was held by Detroit.  They took Brendan Smith with that selection, a defenseman that looked to have some offensive upside in his early years but has emerged more as a defensive defender in recent years while also spending some time on the right wing.

He’s still on the board but is there a better fit for the Red Wings?  With the 27th selection, who should Detroit select?   Make your selection below.

2007 Redraft: Twenty-Seventh Overall
Karl Alzner 28.37% (200 votes)
Carl Gunnarsson 21.70% (153 votes)
Riley Nash 20.71% (146 votes)
Brendan Smith 9.22% (65 votes)
Thomas Hickey 8.37% (59 votes)
Robert Bortuzzo 8.23% (58 votes)
Colton Sceviour 3.40% (24 votes)
Total Votes: 705

[Mobile users, click here to vote]

*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

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