Oilers Place Mike Smith On LTIR
Mike Smith’s season debut was originally thought to be coming on Thursday in the second half of their back-to-back set against Vancouver. However, he was a late scratch with Stuart Skinner joining the Oilers from their taxi squad as Mikko Koskinen’s backup. Whatever the issue is will hold him out for a little while as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that Smith has been placed on LTIR, meaning he will miss at least 10 games or 24 days.
The 38-year-old is in his second season with Edmonton after signing a one-year deal with them in October after other options didn’t materialize in free agency. Noteworthy is that the contract contains up to $250K in games played bonuses at varying thresholds between 20 and 40 games; any extended absence will all but cement the top ones becoming unachievable and make the smaller ones a little tougher to get. With Edmonton well into LTIR, any earned bonuses this season will be charged against the 2021-22 salary cap.
Smith’s expected absence and Skinner’s inexperience (two minor pro seasons with no NHL action) could force GM Ken Holland to try to make a move for a more proven short-term backup. That was supposed to be Anton Forsberg’s role but he has since been claimed off waivers twice, the second of which came today by Winnipeg. With players needing to go through a quarantine period (seven days for Canadian-based players, 14 for those elsewhere), if such a move is coming, it’s one that will need to happen sooner than later. In the meantime, Olivier Rodrigue has been recalled to the taxi squad but he was playing in Austria so he is facing a lengthy quarantine before he can join them so that recall alone may not be enough.
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 01/14/21
It appears as though there will be daily movement this season between the active roster and taxi squad, and although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of news each day.
- The Vancouver Canucks have sent Loui Eriksson to the taxi squad and recalled Justin Bailey. Given Eriksson didn’t play last night for the Canucks this doesn’t come as much of a surprise and it will allow the team to bank slightly more daily cap space. Eriksson previously cleared waivers and could also be assigned to the AHL once it gets started.
- Stuart Skinner has been recalled from the Edmonton Oilers taxi squad under emergency conditions, giving the team an extra goaltender for tonight’s action. Evan Bouchard meanwhile has been sent to the taxi squad, while Tyler Benson, who had previously been there, has now been assigned to the AHL.
- Staying in Western Canada, the Calgary Flames have activated Derek Ryan from the taxi squad as expected, but he’s coming with some company. The team has also activated Louis Domingue who will serve as backup this evening while David Rittich deals with a family issue. With the extra space, Artyom Zagidulin has been added to the taxi squad from the AHL roster.
- The Nashville Predators have recalled Cole Smith from the taxi squad while sending Lukas Craggs to the AHL. Craggs already played in eight games for the Florida Everblades, recording nine points early in the season but will now compete for playing time with the Chicago Wolves. Smith, who also played a handful of games for the Everblades to start the year, is in his first season of professional hockey after being signed out of the University of North Dakota.
- The Winnipeg Jets have brought up a pair of players as Mathieu Perreault and Logan Stanley were recalled from the taxi squad. Perreault cleared waivers earlier in the week so they will have the ability to shuffle him back and forth until he plays in 10 NHL games or is on the NHL roster for 30 days. Stanley, meanwhile, was a first-round pick back in 2016 but has yet to suit up with the Jets. Winnipeg also recalled defenseman Leon Gawanke from his loan to Berlin of the DEL.
- The Montreal Canadiens assigned Jake Evans to the taxi squad. He played a little under nine minutes in last night’s season-opener but with them off until the weekend, they’ll shuffle him down and bank a little bit of cap space. The team has already announced its intent to recall him for their next game on Saturday.
Seven Players Clear Waivers
Jan 14: All seven players have cleared waivers and can report to a taxi squad or the minor leagues.
Jan 13: The first day of the hockey season is upon us and waivers are still jam-packed. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that Par Lindholm (BOS), Devin Shore (EDM), Dmytro Timashov (NYI), Boo Nieves (TBL), Craig Anderson (WSH), Rodrigo Abols (FLA), and Kevin Connauton (FLA) are on waivers today.
Of course, several of these players did not have official contracts filed before today, meaning they now do.
Washington Capitals reporter Mike Vogel tweets that the team has signed Anderson to a one-year deal after bringing him into camp on a professional tryout. The deal will carry an average annual value of $700K. He will report to the team’s practice squad if he clears waivers. The Capitals have already announced that the team will go with Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek to start the season, but Anderson certainly provides a lot of experience at the position if anything goes sideways. The 39-year-old goaltender has 648 games played in his long career and carries a save percentage of .913.
Shore and Nieves are both brand new signings that their teams announced, both two-way contracts worth around $700K. Nieves’ deal was announced yesterday by the Tampa Bay Lightning, while the Edmonton Oilers announced Shore’s deal earlier this morning.
Timashov and Connauton were also both unsigned as of today, though it was clear that both had earned contracts already. The New York Islanders have been very coy with all of their training camp deals, while the Florida Panthers had kept Connauton with the group on a professional tryout. Their official contracts should be announced at some point today, given they are now on waivers.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 01/13/21
As reported earlier, beginning today, and each day for the remainder of the 2020-21 season, the NHL will be sharing the names of players who are “unavailable” to play or practice due to any number of factors that place them under the league’s COVID-19 Protocol. Here is the list of players for today, Wednesday, January 13:
F Lawson Crouse, Arizona Coyotes
F Karson Kuhlman, Boston Bruins
D Erik Johnson, Colorado Avalanche
F Mikko Koivu, Columbus Blue Jackets
D Christian Djoos, Detroit Red Wings
F Darren Helm, Detroit Red Wings
F Gaetan Haas, Edmonton Oilers
F James Neal, Edmonton Oilers
D Markus Nutivaara, Florida Panthers
D Kurtis MacDermid, Los Angeles Kings
G Cal Petersen, Los Angeles Kings
D Sean Walker, Los Angeles Kings
G Alex Stalock, Minnesota Wild
F Mikael Granlund, Nashville Predators
D Luca Sbisa, Nashville Predators
F Justin Richards, New York Rangers
D Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia Flyers
F Kasperi Kapanen, Pittsburgh Penguins
F Maxim Letunov, San Jose Sharks
D Jordie Benn, Vancouver Canucks
F J.T. Miller, Vancouver Canucks
F Nikolaj Ehlers, Winnipeg Jets
*NOTE: The league declined to list any specific members of the Dallas Stars at this time. The team is currently recovering from an extensive breakout.
Leo Komarov, Alex Nedeljkovic Clear Waivers
Jan 13: Both Komarov and Nedeljkovic have cleared waivers and can be assigned to the taxi squad or minor leagues.
Jan 12: The big waiver day was yesterday, with teams putting dozens of players on the wire at the same time to prepare for the upcoming season, But the New York Islanders weren’t done there, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Leo Komarov has been placed on waivers today. After claiming Anton Forsberg from the Edmonton Oilers, the Carolina Hurricanes have also placed Alex Nedeljkovic on waivers.
Komarov, 33, has fallen off a cliff offensively since his early days with the Toronto Maple Leafs but is still a coach’s favorite given his in-your-face playstyle and defensive responsibility. To see him on waivers with the Islanders is something of a surprise, but certainly not much of a risk given his contract that carries a $3MM cap hit through the 2021-22 season. The Islanders are dancing a tight rope with regards to the salary cap and will gain some additional flexibility should Komarov clear. He’ll then be able to be moved at will to the taxi squad, periodically burying part of his cap hit.
Still, it seems likely that the veteran forward will get into the lineup at some point as the Islanders navigate the condensed schedule. A veteran of 457 regular season games, he played in 17 postseason contests with New York last year, scoring three points.
Nedeljkovic’s placement perhaps is even more surprising, given he was seen as the “goaltender of the future” for the Hurricanes relatively recently. The 25-year-old won the AHL Goaltender of the Year award for the 2018-19 season when he and the Charlotte Checkers took home the Calder Cup but did see something of a regression last season when he posted just a .906 save percentage in 29 minor league appearances.
Still, risking him to the rest of the league is certainly not ideal, especially if it was because of their claim of Forsberg today. While he has much more NHL experience, it still seemed as though Nedeljkovic had more upside. That is exactly the kind of reasoning a team may use to claim the young goaltender, though they would then need to carry him on the NHL squad until they can slip him through waivers themselves.
Devin Shore Signs With Edmonton Oilers
He’s earned a spot. Devin Shore that is, who today signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Edmonton Oilers after attending training camp on a professional tryout. Shore will earn $700K at the NHL level but is on waivers today to give the Oilers more flexibility in his placement. If he clears, he would be able to be placed on the taxi squad or sent to the minor leagues.
The 26-year-old Shore scored just 12 points last season but does represent an NHL option for a team that is trying to add depth up front for a postseason run. The versatile forward has played 288 games at the highest level and actually hasn’t spent any time in the minor leagues since the 2015-16 season. The fact that he was flipped for Sonny Milano last season surely isn’t forgotten, given that he could be a deadline chip for the Oilers again this year if things don’t go according to plan.
It’s unlikely that he plays in the majority of the games this season, but Edmonton’s fourth line is certainly not written in ink at this point. Even Jujhar Khaira, who was signed to a two-year $2.4MM deal in 2019 was put on (and cleared) waivers recently and could find himself on the outside looking in at some point. Shore’s relative youth combined with his ability to penalty kill makes him an attractive option, even if it is just bottom-six depth.
43 Players Placed On Waivers
As teams begin to make their final camp decisions with the 2020-21 season getting started this week, the ramifications are apparent in today’s waiver wire group. All nine players from Saturday’s waivers cleared, but that is less likely to occur Sunday with a much longer list, including some more notable names. The following players have been placed on waivers today:
Buffalo Sabres
D Brandon Davidson
F Steven Fogarty
F C.J. Smith
G Dustin Tokarski
Calgary Flames
G Louis Domingue
F Byron Froese
F Justin Kirkland
D Alex Petrovic
F Buddy Robinson
Colorado Avalanche
F Kiefer Sherwood
Edmonton Oilers
F Adam Cracknell
F Seth Griffith
Florida Panthers
G Philippe Desrosiers
F Scott Wilson
Los Angeles Kings
D Daniel Brickley
F Boko Imama
Minnesota Wild
D Matt Bartekowski
D Louie Belpedio
F Joseph Cramarossa
F Gabriel Dumont
G Andrew Hammond
F Luke Johnson
F Gerald Mayhew
D Dakota Mermis
D Ian McCoshen
F Kyle Rau
Montreal Canadiens
F Brandon Baddock
F Alex Belzile
F Joseph Blandisi
F Laurent Dauphin
D Noah Juulsen
G Charlie Lindgren
D Gustav Olofsson
D Xavier Ouellet
F Jordan Weal
New York Islanders
F Joshua Ho-Sang
F Mason Jobst
Ottawa Senators
D Maxime Lajoie
Pittsburgh Penguins
D Kevin Czuczman
F Josh Currie
F Frederick Gaudreau
G Maxime Lagace
D Zach Trotman
Among the names likely to receive attention on the wire are a trio of intriguing young players. Defensemen Noah Juulsen and Maxime Lajoie and forward Josh Ho-Sang have all seen NHL action in the past and have shown promise but for different reasons are now available to claim. Juulsen in particular looked like a long-term permanent piece on the Montreal blue line, but vision issues brought on by head injuries knocked him out of the 2018-19 season after 21 games with the Habs and limited him to just 13 AHL games in 2019-20. The Canadiens clearly want to see him get in some game action before returning him to the NHL roster, but another club may have more faith in the young defenseman, who allegedly is back at full strength. After 56 games with the Ottawa Senators in 2018-19, including a hot scoring start, Lajoie was somewhat inexplicably reduced to just six games with the team this past season. A versatile all-around defenseman who has already shown in a small sample size that he can hack it in the NHL, Lajoie could certainly draw interest from a team more willing to give him another chance. Ho-Sang, a first-round pick of the Islanders back in 2014, is on the outs with his club. A future in New York seems non-existent for a player whose effort and attitude have been called into question. His limited action last season also doesn’t help his case. Yet, Ho-Sang’s skill is apparent and that alone is a cause for pause for teams scouring the waiver wire.
As for a more polished possible pick-up, Jordan Weal leads the pack as a veteran of over 200 NHL games who has posted an 82-game scoring pace of 25 points or more in three straight seasons. Seth Griffith is also no stranger to being passed around via waivers and Frederick Gaudreau is coming off a career-high 55 NHL appearances last season and has strong scoring numbers throughout his AHL career.
This waiver group could also provide goalie depth for a team in need (see: New Jersey Devils). Andrew Hammond, Louis Domingue, Dustin Tokarski, and Charlie Lindgren are all veteran net minders with NHL experience who could provide some stability in net.
James Neal And Gaetan Haas Expected To Miss The Start Of The Season
It appears that the Oilers will be without a pair of forwards to start the season. Head coach Dave Tippett told reporters Friday, including Reid Wilkins of 630 CHED (Twitter link), that he doesn’t expect winger James Neal or center Gaetan Haas to be available anytime soon. Neal is skating while Haas hasn’t started to do so.
Nine Players Placed On Waivers
After 25 players found themselves on waivers on Friday (23 of which cleared), it’s a smaller group of players on the waiver wire today. James Mirtle of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the following nine players have been waived:
Edmonton Oilers
Nashville Predators
D Alexandre Carrier
D Ben Harpur
G Kasimir Kaskisuo
D Tyler Lewington
F Sean Malone
F Michael McCarron
F Anthony Richard
Toronto Maple Leafs
All nine players have some NHL experience, ranging from one game for Malone and Kaskisuo to 127 for Hutchinson. The latter actually started last season as the backup in Toronto but struggled mightily before being waived and sent to the minors. He was flipped to Colorado before the trade deadline and as a result of injuries to both Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz, Hutchinson actually was the starter for the Avalanche by the time their postseason run came to an end. While he did relatively well, he still had to settle for a two-year, two-way deal that was ultimately signed to meet a pending expansion requirement.
Teams will have until 11 AM CT on Sunday to place a claim on any of these players. If they pass through, they’ll be eligible to be assigned to the minors or to the new taxi squads.
Training Camp Cuts: 1/9/21
With the start of the season just days away, more teams should be starting to trim their rosters. We’ll keep tabs on those moves here and update this post throughout the day.
Calgary Flames (per team Twitter and team release)
F Justin Kirkland (to Stockton, AHL)
F Luke Philp (to Stockton, AHL)
D Colton Poolman (to Stockton, AHL)
G Garret Sparks (released from PTO, to Stockton, AHL)
F Eetu Tuulola (to Stockton, AHL)
Edmonton Oilers (per team Twitter)
F Adam Cracknell (to Bakersfield, AHL)*
F Seth Griffith (to Bakersfield, AHL)*
F Cooper Marody (to Bakersfield, AHL)
D Markus Niemelainen (to Bakersfield, AHL)
G Stuart Skinner (to Bakersfield, AHL)
D Ryan Stanton (released from PTO, to Bakersfield, AHL)
*-pending clearing waivers, both will be officially waived on Sunday.
Florida Panthers (per team release)
F Henry Bowlby (to Syracuse, AHL)
G Scott Darling (released from PTO)
F Serron Noel (to Syracuse, AHL)
D Jake Massie (to Syracuse, AHL)
D John Ludvig (to Syracuse, AHL)
D Max Gildon (to Syracuse, AHL)
Vancouver Canucks (per team Twitter)
D Mitch Eliot (to Utica, AHL)