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Minor Transactions: 02/24/2019

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Tomorrow is the NHL Trade Deadline and, if yesterday is any indication, more deals are on the way today. Meanwhile, it’s also the last chance that GM’s have to take a look at their teams in game action and decide what, if anything, needs to be addressed via trade. A dozen teams will hit the ice today, including several top contenders who have yet to make a move. It’s all leading up to a busy day of dealing tomorrow. For now, teams will still need to keep an eye on the day-to-day operations, so keep up with all of the minor transactions here:

  • The Colorado Avalanche announced that they have recalled forward Sheldon Dries from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Dries has been back and forth frequently this season, logging 36 games with the Avs and 13 with the Eagles. Dries is not much of an offensive force, but continues to get the call due to his solid two-way game. Colorado has suddenly re-discovered their offense of late, outscoring opponents 20-4 on their current four-game winning streak, so they can afford to bring in the stable defensive forward now that they’re not as desperate for secondary scoring.
  • With their roster in disarray following two major trades, it is no wonder that the Ottawa Senators are having to make additional moves. The team has announced that defenseman Christian Wolanin has been promoted from AHL Belleville. Wolanin, in his first full pro season out of the University of North Dakota, has played in 12 games with Ottawa versus 35 games with Belleville. He has been very productive at the AHL level and looks to have the makings of an NHL regular. The Senators hope he can display that potential down the stretch.
  • With Mats Zuccarello set to join the team, the Dallas Stars have opened up a roster spot by sending Joel L’Esperance back to AHL Texas, beat writer Mark Stepneski reports. L’Esperance has been enjoying strong production with the Texas Stars in his first pro season, recording 42 points through 49 games thus far. However, the Michigan Tech product was held scoreless in four games with Dallas on his first recall. Regardless, L’Esperance likely remains the next man up for the Stars this season.
  • The St. Louis Blues have announced that forward Brayden Schenn has been placed on the injured reserve and top prospect Jordan Kyrou has been recalled to replace him. Although Schenn’s upper-body injury is not expected to be serious, he has missed the Blues’ past two games so this placement lets St. Louis replace his roster spot in case he has to miss a few more games. Kyrou, 20, has played in 16 games with the Blues in his first pro season, registering three points, and has been a point-per-game player through 36 games with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage. The promising forward is expected to be a full-time player in St. Louis sooner rather than later, so this call-up is a preview of what’s to come for the Blues.
  • The Detroit Red Wings announced they have recalled goaltender Harri Sateri from the Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions. Sateri was sent down Saturday, but with goaltender Jimmy Howard under the weather still, Sateri will backup Jonathan Bernier for one more game.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets activated winger Markus Hannikainen from injured reserve. The 25-year-old was placed on IR last Tuesday with an illness and is now ready to return. Hannikainen has four goals and seven points in 42 games this season. Unless another move is forthcoming, that will give the Blue Jackets 15 forwards and just six defenseman on their current depth chart, an unusual number.
  • The Anaheim Ducks swapped defensemen, according to CapFriendly. The team promoted Korbinian Holzer from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, while assigning Andy Welinski to San Diego. The 31-year-old Holzer has played in just two games with Anaheim, while Welinski has appeared in 19 games with the Ducks.
  • The New Jersey Devils have moved four players as they announced they have assigned forwards Joey Anderson and Brett Seney to the Binghamton Devils of the AHL and have recalled forwards Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian from the AHL. Anderson, who signed with New Jersey out of Minnesota-Duluth last season had two goals in 19 games with New Jersey, while Seney has had five goals in 50 games. McLeod, the team’s first-round pick in 2016, is in his first season of professional hockey and has six goals and 31 points in 52 games. Bastian, a 2016 second-rounder, has 17 goals in 56 games with Binghamton.

Red Wings Recall Filip Zadina

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Detroit fans have anxiously been waiting for their first glimpse of Filip Zadina with the big club and that wait is just about over.  The team announced that they have recalled the winger from AHL Grand Rapids, returning goalie Harri Sateri to the Griffins in a corresponding move.  Zadina is expected to be in the lineup for their next game on Sunday against San Jose and make his NHL debut.

The 19-year-old was the sixth overall pick back in June following a dominant season with Halifax of the QMJHL.  Some had speculated he could go as high as third overall so the fact he slid a few spots came as somewhat of a surprise.  Detroit was able to get him to their farm team right away (something that could only be done as it was deemed that Zadina was merely on loan to Halifax and not their player) and the results have been mixed thus far.

While he sits fourth on the team in scoring with 15 goals and 16 assists in 45 games, consistency has been an issue at times.  He also didn’t fare well at the recent World Juniors where he had just a single assist in five games with the Czech Republic after being expected to come in and dominate.  Nonetheless, Detroit feels he has shown enough to get a look with the Red Wings.

The question becomes how long of a look will he get?  As a junior-aged player, Zadina is subject to a games played threshold.  If he plays more than nine games, he will officially burn the first year of his entry-level contract.  (If he doesn’t, the deal will slide and Zadina will still have a three-year contract next season.)  Considering that the Red Wings are well out of the postseason picture, it may not make a lot of sense for them to go through the first year of his contract now so while there’s certainly some excitement surrounding his debut, it may ultimately be relatively short-lived as he could very well be back in Grand Rapids before long.

Holland: No Trade Interest In Thomas Vanek So Far

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Red Wings winger Thomas Vanek is no stranger to being part of trade deadline speculation having been dealt in that situation three times already.  However, as things stand, it doesn’t appear likely that he’ll be on the move again.  GM Ken Holland told reporters, including Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News (Twitter link) that there has been no interest in the 35-year-old so far.  Vanek has picked up his play as of late with 13 points in 21 games since the calendar flipped to 2019 which is decent production for a secondary scorer.  However, it doesn’t appear to be enough to intrigue anyone just yet.  Vanek is a pending unrestricted free agent with a full no-trade clause and carries a $3MM salary and cap hit.

Washington Capitals Acquire, Extend Nick Jensen

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The Washington Capitals have found their defenseman, acquiring Nick Jensen and a 2019 fifth-round pick (BUF) from the Detroit Red Wings. In exchange, the Red Wings will receive Madison Bowey and a 2020 second-round draft pick (WSH). A few hours later the Capitals announced a four-year extension for Jensen worth $10MM. The deal will keep him from reaching free agency at the end of the year, and in Washington through the 2022-23 season. The full salary breakdown is as follows:

  • 2019-20: $2.5MM salary + $500K signing bonus
  • 2020-21: $2.0MM salary
  • 2021-22: $2.5MM salary + $500K signing bonus
  • 2022-23: $2.0MM salary

Jensen, 28, is in the midst of an excellent season after being given more responsibility in Detroit, but will now move to a much deeper defense corps in Washington. The team already had two right-handed horses in John Carlson and Matt Niskanen that log huge minutes every night, but there’s not reason to think that Jensen won’t enter the lineup immediately and be an upgrade for the team. Christian Djoos played just over eight minutes against the Toronto Maple Leafs last night and is the likely candidate to come out, though the Capitals now have plenty of options to mix and match through the end of the season.

That flexibility didn’t come at a low cost though, as the Capitals are giving up a relatively high draft pick and a 23-year old defenseman in Bowey who looked like he would be an NHL regular as recently as last season. Through 84 games in his short career Bowey has recorded 18 points despite averaging fewer than 14 minutes a night, and is an effective puck-moving option that could see an increased role in Detroit. The young defenseman’s contract runs through 2019-20 with just a $1MM average annual value.

While it’s not a market-shattering return, it is another solid package secured by Detroit GM Ken Holland as part of his rebuild. Jensen was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and was obviously looking for a substantial raise on his current $813K cap hit. The Red Wings did explore a contract extension, but this return will allow them to replace Jensen while adding a nice draft pick to their prospect cupboard.

This may be the last move that the Capitals do given that they already acquired Carl Hagelin yesterday, but it surely won’t be the last time the Red Wings are involved in a trade this season. The team still has several expiring assets that could bring back something of value, most notably Gustav Nyquist. With Matt Duchene coming off the board today the forward market is finally starting to move along, and the Red Wings will likely be watching closely.

Washington meanwhile would need to move out more money to do anything else, given how close they are to the salary cap ceiling. It was clear that GM Brian MacLellan wanted another defenseman, something he has done every year—Michal Kempny, Kevin Shattenkirk, Tim Gleason and Mike Weber all come to mind—but has managed to keep hold of his first-round pick once again.

Darren Dreger of TSN was first to break the deal on Twitter.

Minor Transactions: 02/22/19

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While trade deadline season dominates the headlines, minor moves may actually give hints to what is on the way. Teams often prepare for a trade by moving certain pieces around, and we’ll be here keeping track of all those moves.

  • As the Ottawa Senators prepare to move on from three key forwards, the team has embraced the youth movement. Drake Batherson and Logan Brown have both been recalled while Darren Archibald and Cody Goloubef are on their way to the AHL.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled Henri Jokiharju today, as Brent Seabrook will be unable to play due to an abdominal strain. Carl Dahlstrom is also questionable with an illness, meaning Jokiharju could get into his first NHL game this month. The young defenseman is up under emergency conditions, though that could be changed should the team want him to stay even after Seabrook is healthy enough to play.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have called up goaltender Harri Sateri and sent Christoffer Ehn to the minor leagues. Jimmy Howard is dealing with an illness, meaning Jonathan Bernier will get the start tonight.
  • Tyler Gaudet was up for just a single day with the Nashville Predators, and is now on his way back down to the AHL. Gaudet hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2016-17 season, but has 23 points in 41 games for the Milwaukee Admirals this year.

Red Wings Have Held Extension Talks With Gustav Nyquist

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  • Although the Red Wings recently asked Gustav Nyquist for a list of teams he’d be willing to be traded to, they haven’t given up just yet on signing the winger to an extension either. The 29-year-old told reporters, including Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News, that his agent has held preliminary extension discussions with GM Ken Holland but evidently, nothing has been worked out just yet.  Nyquist is on pace to set a career high in points and would normally command a first-round pick on the trade market but with so few teams willing to deal those and other prominent rentals available, it may be tough for Holland to get that type of return.

Nick Jensen Still Drawing Trade Interest

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The Detroit Red Wings are out of the playoff race for this season but they are still a team to watch over the next week. Several potential trade pieces reside on their team including Nick Jensen who continues to draw interest from around the league. Brian Lawton of NHL Network tweets that interest is increasing of late, with the Red Wings asking for a second-round pick or more in exchange for the defenseman. Teams are apparently only offering a third-round selection so far.

Jensen, 28, is experiencing a breakout season for the Red Wings and happens to be the kind of talented right-handed defenseman that almost everyone is looking for at the deadline. After two seasons of mostly third-pairing work, Jensen is logging nearly 21 minutes a night for Detroit and has 15 points in 59 games. Those numbers come with positive possession statistics and a supremely inexpensive $812.5K full season cap hit, making him a desirable asset for any playoff run.

The Red Wings already own ten selections in the upcoming draft, and could potentially add several more with trades of Jensen, Gustav Nyquist and Luke Glendening among others. The team is already well on their way to a rebuild with a young core surrounding franchise player Dylan Larkin, and could advance it even more with a strong trade deadline. Last year GM Ken Holland secured four draft picks in trade by sending out Tomas Tatar and Petr Mrazek, and several more at the 2017 deadline. If that trend continues, expect Detroit to be more than willing to sell off their expiring assets to continue stocking their prospect cupboards in the coming days.

Trade Candidate: Luke Glendening

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With the trade deadline quickly approaching, we will be profiling several players in the weeks ahead that have a good chance to be dealt by February 25th.

Incremental fourth line upgrades are rarely exciting but several playoff-bound teams will be looking to make them over the next week.  With that in mind, Detroit center Luke Glendening is once again in trade speculation and could soon find himself on the move.

Contract

Glendening is in the second season of a four-year, $7.2MM deal that’s slightly front-loaded.  The total salary over the final two years of the deal is $3.2MM.  There isn’t any form of trade protection in the contract.

2018-19

Heading into the season, it seemed likely that Glendening would bounce between the third and fourth lines and play his usual checking role.  Instead, he has been asked to play a more substantial role as he has been a fixture on the third line while even dabbling in Detroit’s top six from time to time.  As a result, he’s on pace for career highs across the board offensively while still being one of the stronger players at the faceoff dot in the league; he ranks tenth league-wide in faceoff percentage (56.2%) among players with at least 500 draws taken this season.

Season Stats

60 GP, 9 goals, 11 assists, 20 points, +8 rating, 15 PIMS, 84 shots, 15:47 ATOI, 41.6 CF%

Potential Suitors

With two years left on his deal after this one, Glendening is someone that non-contenders could, at least in theory, look to add to upgrade their bottom six with an eye on next season.  That said, the likeliest suitors are those that are looking to win now and want a faceoff/penalty kill type of specialist.

In the East, Toronto has been linked to Glendening already and had interest in him last season as well.  Their fourth line center situation hasn’t been the greatest this season with rookies Par Lindholm and Frederik Gauthier having varying degrees of success in that role.  Head coach Mike Babcock is also familiar with him from his days in Detroit.  However, a $1.8MM AAV without any sort of offset may be too much of a premium for a team that’s pegged to be very tight to the Upper Limit beyond this season.  Columbus has had all sorts of issues with center depth as of late and could certainly view him as some stability at that spot.  Boston hasn’t really replaced Riley Nash (who is now with Columbus after leaving as a free agent) and while their eyes are set on more of an impact pivot at this stage, that could change if the top names go elsewhere.

Out West, Colorado isn’t interested in rental help but would like to make some sort of upgrade.  They’re near the bottom of the league at the faceoff dot and would slot in nicely on their fourth line.  Dallas could be in the market for depth down the middle with Martin Hanzal potentially done for the year and Jason Spezza (who has seen some time at center this season) set to become a free agent this summer.  With St. Louis all of a sudden looking like possible buyers, Glendening could be the type of small upgrade they target while leaving the core parts of their roster intact.

Likelihood Of A Trade

Between his faceoff prowess and positional versatility, Red Wings GM Ken Holland should be fielding quite a few calls on Glendening if he hasn’t done so already.  However, the odds of a trade getting done will likely come down to whether or not they’re willing to pay down part of the contract (they can retain up to 50%) or take a player back to offset money that way.  While the 29-year-old would certainly help some contenders, his cap hit is high for someone that’s primarily going to be a fourth liner on those teams.  If Detroit’s willing to do that, there’s a good chance he’ll be on the move with the Red Wings picking up a pretty good return for Glendening’s services.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Frans Nielsen Expected To Return Sunday

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  • Although the Red Wings were without center Frans Nielsen this afternoon against Philadelphia, this should be the only game he misses. The team noted (Twitter link) that Nielsen is dealing with a minor illness and they are hopeful that he’ll return to the lineup on Sunday.  The 34-year-old very quietly sits fourth in team scoring with 30 points (9-21-30) in 54 games so far this season.

Minor Transactions: 2/16/19

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As is often the case, Saturday is a busy day on the schedule with 24 teams in action which means there should be plenty of roster movement throughout the day.  We’ll keep track of those moves here.

  • The Jets announced the recall of defenseman Sami Niku from AHL Manitoba. The 22-year-old has split the season between the NHL and AHL which has prevented him from really getting into a rhythm as of late.  He has a dozen points in 20 games with the Moose plus a pair of assists in 11 contests with Winnipeg so far this season.  With Joe Morrow suffering a lower-body injury that’s going to keep him out for two-to-three weeks, Niku, who has been part of trade speculation in recent weeks, may be in line for some more playing time.  In a separate move, the team has also promoted blueliner Tucker Poolman from Manitoba.  After playing 24 games with Winnipeg last year, he has yet to play with them this season while injuries have limited him to just 25 contests with the Moose.
  • Dallas is giving a look to the top goal scorer in the AHL as center Joel L’Esperance has been brought up from Texas (AHL) per a team release. The 23-year-old is in his first full professional season and has already scored 27 goals in just 49 games.  He signed with the Stars as an undrafted free agent last summer, a move that is certainly paying dividends already.  This will be L’Esperance’s first look at the NHL level.
  • The Islanders announced (Twitter link) that they have assigned winger Andrew Ladd and defenseman Thomas Hickey to Bridgeport of the AHL on conditioning stints. Ladd has been out for three months due to a leg injury while Hickey has been out of action with an upper-body issue for nearly two months.  GM Lou Lamoriello told reporters, including Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter links) that both players have been transferred to LTIR today and are pegged to play two games with the Sound Tigers before re-evaluating their progress.
  • Defenseman Filip Hronek is back with the Red Wings after the team announced his promotion from AHL Grand Rapids.  The 21-year-old has been quite productive in limited action at the minor league level, collecting 23 points in 28 games.  He also has more than held his own with Detroit, logging over 18 minutes a night in 23 contests with the big club.
  • Injuries on the back end for the Kings have provided an opportunity for Matt Roy to get a look with the big club as the team announced that he has been brought up from Ontario (AHL).  Roy leads the Reign in scoring by a defenseman with 29 points in 45 games so far this season.  His recall was required with Alec Martinez and Sean Walker are out with upper-body injuries.
  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have assigned winger Kevin Roy to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. The 25-year-old has been on season-opening injured reserve after undergoing offseason wrist surgery. Roy played 25 games for the Ducks last season, putting up six goals and seven points. He will attempt to find his game after a long layoff with the Gulls, where he scored 14 goals and 37 points last season.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers announced they have assigned forward Mikhail Vorobyev to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. The 22-year-old was recalled for a second stint with the team on Jan. 28, but has failed to produce offensively. He hasn’t register a point in eight games since that call-up. He has just one goal and two points in 15 games total this season, while receiving just 9:20 of ATOI.
  • Ed Willies of The Province reports that injured winger Jake Virtanen has been moved to injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Virtanen took a big hit from Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf Wednesday, missed Thursday’s game and had an MRI this morning, prompting the team to place him on IR. The team will use that open roster spot to put newly acquired forward Ryan Spooner on the ice. Head coach Travis Green said the injury is not concussion-related. He is expected to miss at least a week.
  • The St. Louis Blues announced they have placed defenseman Carl Gunnarsson on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The veteran defenseman has been out of the lineup since Feb. 5 and therefore can return whenever he is ready. The team has recalled forward Sammy Blais from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL. Blais has played 24 games for the Blues, but has just two goals and three points in that time.

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