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Minor Transactions: 12/2/21

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It’s been a busy day for news at the NHL level, with unfortunately a high number of COVID protocol placements over the past few days. It’s caused a ripple effect across leagues, with teams making rapid roster transactions in order to keep up. Here’s a list of today’s minor transactions across the hockey world:

  • Netminder Evan Fitzpatrick has been sent back down to the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Fitzpatrick was a high draft pick (59th overall) of the St. Louis Blues in 2016 but was left unqualified this offseason after some rough stints in the ECHL. He joined the Panthers on a PTO for training camp, didn’t earn a deal, but stayed in the organization on a minor-league deal. He’s having a much better start to this season – despite a 1-3-0 record, he’s posted a .927 save percentage.

Panthers Recall Aleksi Heponiemi

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  • The Panthers have brought up forward Aleksi Heponiemi from AHL Charlotte, per the AHL’s transactions log.  The 22-year-old is off to a decent start to his season with 11 points in 17 games with the Checkers.  Heponiemi played in nine games with Florida last season, collecting a goal and an assist while logging just over 12 minutes a game.  WPLG’s David Dwork notes that Aleksander Barkov was transferred to IR to open a spot for Heponiemi’s recall.

Anthony Duclair Day-To-Day After Unexpected Scratch

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The Florida Panthers lost Friday night against the Washington Capitals in part because of an Alex Ovechkin hat trick, but they went into the game down one of their best forwards after winger Anthony Duclair was unexpectedly pulled from warmups and scratched.

Now, interim head coach Andrew Brunette says Duclair is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Speaking after the game, Brunette called the scratch “unexpected,” and that he was mostly pulled as a precaution. However, he does say that Duclair will be evaluated in the coming days.

Maxim Mamin, who has a goal in four games this season, filled in on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Sam Bennett in Duclair’s absence.

Duclair was finally rewarded with some stability this offseason when the Panthers gave him a three-year, $9MM contract extension this offseason. He’s lit up the scoresheet this season, posting 17 points in 19 games en route to an extremely hot start for the Panthers.

Panthers Sign Ryan Lomberg To Two-Year Extension

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11/26: The Panthers have officially announced the new deal, confirming a two-year pact with Lomberg. In the team’s release, GM Bill Zito stated his appreciation for the forward’s hard-working brand of hockey: “Ryan has brought physicality and contagious energy to our lineup. We are excited to announce that he will continue to be a part of the Panthers organization for years to come.”

11/25: Ryan Lomberg has been a capable depth player in his two seasons with the Panthers and the team clearly likes what he has provided as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed the winger to a two-year contract extension.  The deal is worth $775K in 2022-23 and $825K in 2023-24 for an AAV of $800K, a small raise on his current $725K cap hit.

Lomberg signed with Florida as an unrestricted free agent back in 2020 after spending the first five years of his professional career with Calgary.  He didn’t see any NHL action in his final year in the Flames organization which allowed the 27-year-old to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent.

Since joining the Panthers, Lomberg has become more of a regular player, suiting up in 34 games last season where he tallied two goals and two assists in 34 games along with a team-high 67 penalty minutes.  This season, he has played in ten contests, picking up a goal and two assists while logging 10:38 per game, a career-high in ATOI.

With the signing, Florida now has just under $78MM in commitments for next season to just 16 players, per CapFriendly.  With the cap only expected to go up by $1MM next season to $82.5MM, Florida is going to be facing a situation where they will need to round out their roster with minimum-salary players and will likely need to move someone out to free up enough money to re-sign some of their own pending free agents.  Accordingly, getting a regular player in Lomberg locked up for just under the minimum is a nice piece of business for GM Bill Zito.

Aleksander Barkov To Miss At Least Two More Weeks

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Joe Thornton Activated From Injured Reserve

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The Florida Panthers have activated center Joe Thornton from injured reserve ahead of Thursday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils, per Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards.

Thornton was placed on injured reserve on October 30 with an undisclosed injury. The night before, ’Jumbo’ played just 6:34 before leaving a game against the Detroit Red Wings.

In just six games this season, the 42-year-old Thornton’s got just one goal and a -2 rating but is still averaging over 10 minutes a night. Some added depth at center is a good thing for Florida right now, who is now without captain Aleksander Barkov on a week-to-week basis after sustaining a knee injury.

Expected to center the third line for the game against the Devils, he’ll be flanked by Frank Vatrano and Owen Tippett who’ve played well in depth roles, combining for seven goals and 14 points so far on the year. With the Panthers’ health issues, though, the lineups could certainly be in flux over the next few games.

Thornton joined the Panthers this offseason, signing a one-year, league-minimum deal on August 13.

Aleksander Barkov Will Not Need Surgery, Out Week-To-Week

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When Aleksander Barkov collided with Scott Mayfield last night, leaving him sprawled out on the ice with obvious pain on his face, Florida Panthers fans held their breath. The captain was taken from the game and many feared the worst, but it appears as though there is some good news.

Barkov will not require surgery, according to head coach Andrew Brunette, who spoke with reporters including George Richards of Florida Hockey Now. He will still be out on a week-to-week basis, but Brunette called it a “best-case scenario.”

It’s certainly not ideal to have your captain on the shelf for weeks, but the fact that Barkov won’t go under the knife is a huge win for the Panthers. The team looks like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender through the early part of the season and showed their explosive offense off again last night, potting six goals against the usually-stingy Islanders.

In fact, the Panthers lead the entire league in goals for with 62 through their first 16 games and still have a two-point lead on the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division.

They also have several players with experience at the center ice position, including Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, and Joe Thornton, the latter of which was skating in the third-line pivot spot at practice today as he recovers from his own injury.

Minor Transactions: 11/14/21

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There’s a six-game slate in the NHL tonight on this Hall of Fame weekend, but transaction action keeps rolling along at lower levels of the game as well. As COVID rears its ugly head again, affecting the rosters of multiple teams this season, teams in the AHL and ECHL have had to adjust their rosters as they lose players to their NHL affiliates. Keep track of today’s minor transactions right here.

  • As the Ottawa Senators deal with the NHL’s worst COVID outbreak this season, the AHL’s Belleville Senators made a minor trade yesterday, acquiring forward Chris Wilkie from the Rockford IceHogs in exchange for future considerations. Wilkie, a product of Colorado College, was originally a sixth-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers back in 2015. This is his second professional season, and he notched a goal and assist in his Belleville debut yesterday.
  • Defenseman Alec Rauhauser was returned to the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits today after being loaned to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. Rauhauser, an undrafted free agent, spent last season in the Florida Panthers organization after four seasons at Bowling Green State University. He made his AHL debut in one game with the Syracuse Crunch but spent the majority of the season in Greenville. In 52 games over two seasons, Rauhauser has 13 ECHL points.
  • The AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms recalled forward Charlie Gerard from the ECHL’s Reading Royals today. Gerard is in his second professional season after a four-year run at Minnesota State University-Mankato and showed promise last season with 34 points in 49 games in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies. Now with the Phantoms on a professional contract, he’ll get his chance to show what he can do within the Flyers organization.

Panthers Assign Olli Juolevi To AHL On Conditioning Stint

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  • The Panthers have sent defenseman Olli Juolevi to Charlotte of the AHL on a conditioning stint, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 23-year-old was acquired from Vancouver in training camp but has yet to make his debut due to an undisclosed injury.  The conditioning stint can last up to three games.

Injury Notes: Hayes, Sabres, Raanta

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While Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes is eligible to come off long-term injured reserve for Philadelphia’s game on Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, it sounds like the forward isn’t quite ready to return from an injury that’s kept him out all season up until this point. Head coach Alain Vigneault won’t rule it out but says that “Wednesday is an outside chance, more on the outside than on the inside” in terms of Hayes’ availability. If Hayes does return, it will be ahead of schedule. He was expected to miss roughly two months after being placed on injured reserve in late September as he continued to recover from offseason core muscle surgery.

Other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • While the Sabres have dealt with some injuries to key players lately, it sounds like there’s good news on the horizon. Forward Victor Olofsson is close to returning, while a day-to-day injury that’s keeping goalie Craig Anderson out of the lineup isn’t serious enough to warrant placing him on injured reserve, per Sabres head coach Don Granato. Olofsson’s been a pleasant surprise, jumping out to lead the team in scoring with nine points in just eight games while playing over 17 minutes a night. The injury looks to be a bump in the road on a real breakout season for the Swedish forward, who’s often been chastised for his lack of production at even-strength.
  • Carolina Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta left Saturday’s game after colliding with Florida Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg, and the team’s public relations team tweeted that he won’t return to the game with an upper-body injury. Raanta’s lengthy injury history gives serious cause for concern here, and it appears as though Frederik Andersen could need to continue shouldering the load for the next little while. Lomberg was assessed a five-minute major penalty on the play.

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