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.
Panthers Claim Gustav Forsling Off Waivers
The Panthers have added some depth on the back end as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they have claimed defenseman Gustav Forsling off waivers from Carolina.
The 24-year-old actually cleared waivers last season and spent the entirety of the 2019-20 season in the minors with AHL Charlotte. Forsling, never known for his offensive prowess, had a decent campaign in terms of point production, putting up eight goals and 18 assists in 56 games with the Checkers before the pandemic shut down the rest of the season.
While he was in the minors all of last year, Forsling does have 122 career games of NHL experience, all with Chicago from 2016-17 through 2018-19 with most of those coming under Joel Quenneville, now the head coach of the Panthers. He averaged more than 17 minutes per game and it’s quite possible that he’ll be able to hold his own in a third-pairing role with Florida. Having said that, Forsling likely slots in as the seventh or eighth defender on the depth chart so he may need to wait for some injuries to arise to get his chance with his new team.
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)
Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers To Share AHL Affiliate
When news broke that three AHL teams would be pulling out of the 2020-21 season, it left a question of what the NHL affiliates would do with their minor league players and prospects. Today, news has come that the Florida Panthers, who are partnered normally with the opting-out Charlotte Checkers, will be sharing the Syracuse Crunch with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season. As part of the agreement, the Panthers will have the ability to assign players directly to the Crunch, though the original coaching staff will stay in place.
Both NHL general managers—Julien BriseBois of the Lightning and Bill Zito of the Panthers—released statements explaining the move and the excitement it should generate for Crunch fans. This kind of collaborative program will only improve the roster for Syracuse, giving them an even better chance of competing this season.
Still, it is certainly not ideal for the Panthers. Though they have a place for their prospects and depth players to play, it’s still easy to see how the Crunch coaching staff could lean slightly towards the development of Lightning prospects over them. Either way, in this unusual and unique season, it’s nice to see two rivals come together on something.
Florida Panthers Place Ethan Prow On Waivers
Jan 4: Prow has cleared waivers.
Jan 3: Only one player was placed on waivers on Sunday, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reporting that the Florida Panthers have put Ethan Prow on waivers.
With a shortened training camp, expect the waiver wire to be quite active in the next week. Prow will be one of many to be placed on waivers as teams begin to sort out their rosters over camp. The 28-year-old has never made an appearance in the NHL, but has proven to be a solid presence on an AHL blueline.
The undrafted free-agent originally signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2016 after four years at St. Cloud State University, playing three years with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins team in the AHL. He posted impressive numbers in his third year (2018-19) in which he scored 18 goals and 50 points in 74 games. He then opted to sign with Florida for a chance to break into the NHL, scoring nine goals and 32 points in 42 games last season, but did not join the Panthers in the bubble.
The blueliner will hope to find his way on the team’s taxi squad or more likely leading the way for their AHL squad.
Snapshots: Stuetzle, Thornton, Duclair, Spurgeon
The Ottawa Senators have already been in camp for several days already, but the team will get another big name player into camp soon as 2020 first-round pick Tim Stuetzle arrived in Ottawa Saturday night. The 18-year-old is coming off an impressive performance at the World Junior Championship after he led Team Germany to one of the countries best finishes ever. After a seven-day quarantine, he will join his team and is likely to start his NHL career, according to the Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch.
“I hope I’m going to play in the NHL this season, that’s 100% my goal and I will work very hard for that,” Stuetzle told reporters in Edmonton following Germany’s elimination in the quarterfinals.
Stuetzle finished the World Juniors with five goals and 10 points in five games. The third-overall pick, who signed his entry-level deal last week, is likely going to play wing for the Senators this season.
- Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe surprised a few at his opening press conference today when he announced that 41-year-old Joe Thornton will play with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on a line entering camp, according to The Athletic’s James Mirtle. That’s a bit higher than many thought he would play on after a seven-goal season with the San Jose Sharks last year. Keefe added that Jimmy Vesey will play alongside John Tavares and William Nylander, while Ilya Mikheyev, Alexander Kerfoot and Zach Hyman will play on the third line and Wayne Simmonds, Jason Spezza and Alexander Barabanov will man the fourth line.
- Speaking of lines, Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said today that newly signed forward Anthony Duclair is expected to start training camp on the team’s No. 1 line next to Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, according to FloridaHockeyNow’s George Richards. Duclair had trouble finding a new team after an impressive season with the Ottawa Senators when he tallied 23 goals and 40 points in 66 games. With the losses of Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman off their top-six, Duclair was brought in to take a big role with the Panthers this season.
- The Minnesota Wild haven’t had to make a change in their captaincy since 2009, but after allowing Mikko Koivu to leave via free agency during the offseason, a new captain was needed. Despite bigger names on the roster such as Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, the Minnesota Wild announced that Jared Spurgeon will be the new captain of the team, according to Sarah McLellan of the StarTribune. Spurgeon, who signed a seven-year, $53MM contract extension in September of 2019, has been a team leader for years and has been with the team for 10 years already. The 31-year-old paired with Suter as the two of them posted a plus-13 at 5-on-5 together, making them one of the top No. 1 pairings in the league.
Taylor Leier, Jack Rodewald Sign In Czech Republic
A pair of former NHL players have decided to take their services overseas as NHL.com’ Brennan Klak reports that former Philadelphia Flyers forward Taylor Leier and former Ottawa Senators forward Jack Rodewald have signed with HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Republic.
Neither player saw NHL action last season. Leier hasn’t made an NHL appearance since the 2017-18 season when he played in 39 games for the Flyers. He scored one goal and tallied five points that year, but spent 2018-19 with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL and then was swapped to Buffalo at midseason for Justin Bailey. The 26-year-old never played for the Sabres, however, spending the next year and half with the Rochester Americans. He appeared in just 27 games for the Americans last season, posting 11 goals and 17 points.
The 26-year-old Rodewald played with the Senators more recently, getting into six games in 2018-19, but has only appeared in 10 total NHL games. He signed with Ottawa in 2017 and showed well in his stints with the Belleville Senators of the AHL, scoring 23 goals in 2018-19, prompting his call-up to Ottawa. However, the Senators decided to trade Rodewald to Florida last season for collegiate forward Chris Wilkie. However, Rodewald struggled with the Panthers’ AHL affiliate, posting just five goals in 43 games.
Luke Martin Signs In The ECHL
If there was ever a year not to turn down a contract offer, it was 2020. Former Carolina Hurricanes prospect Luke Martin may have just learned that the hard way. Although there is no definitive proof that Martin not signing with the Hurricanes was entirely one-sided, it at least appeared that way. Now, months after his draft rights expired and he became an unrestricted free agent, the University of Michigan product has had to settle for an ECHL contract. The Greenville Swamp Rabbits have signed Martin, as well as Wolverines teammate Jake Slaker, to one-year contracts, the league announced.
Martin, 22, was a second-round selection by Carolina back in 2017 out of the U.S. National Team Development Program. However, he had actually played his freshman season at Michigan in his draft year. So while some have been critical of Martin’s offense in the NCAA compared to his junior numbers, the Hurricanes knew what they were getting after watching a full season of Martin at the college level. The true hallmarks of Martin’s game lie in his size and defensive ability. The 6’2″, 220-lb. defenseman plays a physical yet smart checking style and has sound defensive awareness. He was a net +29 over four years at Michigan. However, in that time he did only contribute 30 total points. If there was hesitation on Carolina’s part about a contract, it was based on his lack of skill and offensive upside.
At 22, Martin still has room to grow and improve, but not as much as most prospects seeking an entry-level contract. In a quiet off-season, where even seasoned veterans are struggling to find minimum deals, teams likely felt their contract limit and salary dollars could be better spent. Yet, Martin not even finding an AHL deal is a surprise, though an ECHL pact does allow him to get started right away without any additional roster moves. The NHL parent club of the Swamp Rabbits, the Florida Panthers, will certainly keep an eye on Martin and the taxi squad pulling would-be AHLers from the roster could open up space for Martin to spend much of the season with the Charlotte Checkers once the AHL returns to action. Whether or not these opportunities produce results and an NHL contract next time around remains to be seen. For now, Martin’s case serves as a warning to draft picks to think twice before spurning your drafted NHL club’s contract offer.
Morning Notes: Toews, Mehta, Stuetzle
The Chicago Blackhawks will already miss Kirby Dach for a good chunk (if not all) of the season and might be without their captain as well. Jonathan Toews will miss training camp and the start of the season due to an illness according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and Darren Dreger of TSN, with an official statement from the team expected at some point today.
The Blackhawks are off to a horrible start to the upcoming season if Toews is held out for any serious length of time and it leaves them scrambling for center depth. Dylan Strome, the likely candidate to step into the top-line role, isn’t even signed yet and remains a restricted free agent with just a few days until camp starts. Hopefully, Toews can return before long.
- The Florida Panthers have hired Sunny Mehta as Vice President of Hockey Strategy & Intelligence, bringing in one of the forefathers of hockey analytics. Mehta was one of the first real leaders in the analytics space, serving as Director of Hockey Analytics for the New Jersey Devils from 2014-2018. An interesting resume also includes time as a professional poker player and consultant for several MLB organizations.
- Though it shouldn’t come into play this season, the entry-level contract for Tim Stuetzle does include a European Assignment Clause that could send him back to Mannheim in Germany if he doesn’t crack the Ottawa Senators roster. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports that the DEL squad asked for it to be included and waited to make sure the NHL would actually play before releasing the young forward. Stuetzle, who is logging huge minutes for the shorthanded German team at the World Juniors, is expected to step directly onto the NHL roster when the tournament concludes.
Minor Transactions: 12/28/20
Training camp is just a few days away and things are heating up in the hockey world. With waivers open and rosters being announced, minor transactions will come fast and furious all across the league. We’ll keep track of them right here.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have released their training camp roster, which will include Jordan Nolan as reported earlier this month. The veteran forward signed an AHL deal with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins but will attend camp on a PTO trying to earn an NHL contract. Nolan, who last played in the NHL during the 2018-19 season, scored 27 points for the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL last year.
- The Buffalo Sabres have also released their camp roster, which will not include Casey Nelson. The team has confirmed that Nelson has opted out of the upcoming season. The team also has a few extra spots open, likely leaving room for World Junior players like Dylan Cozens to join after their tournament ends.
- The Nashville Predators have recalled five players from the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. Patrick Harper, Tanner Jeannot, Tommy Novak, Cole Smith, and Josh Wilkins have all been brought back up, presumably to attend the Predators training camp in the coming days. The quintet, who are all signed to NHL deals, helped the Everblades get off to an easy 5-0 start this season, outscoring their competition 25-7.
- Previously reported professional tryouts for Scott Darling and Kevin Connauton with the Florida Panthers have been confirmed. Both will attend training camp in an attempt to land an NHL contract with the team. The Panthers of course were actually the team to execute a buyout on Darling’s last contract after a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes, which means he’s already on their books for around $1.2MM for the upcoming season. That number won’t go anywhere, even if he does sign a new deal with the team.
- T.J. Brennan hasn’t played in an NHL game since 2015-16, but he has managed to land an NHL contract in each of the four seasons since then. That streak has come to an end now though. Swiss club HC Thurgau has announced a one-year deal with Brennan, a major move for a club whose defense has been thinned by injury. The accomplished AHLer should immediately become one of the top players for Thurgau, who plays in the second tier Swiss League.
- After just one full year in the NHL on his entry-level contract, forward Ryan Kuffner is making the move overseas. The Princeton product has signed with ERC Ingolstadt of Germany’s DEL, the club announced. Kuffner joins a team that rosters several other familiar AHL veterans and the young forward should be a good fit. Whether he produces at a level that warrants a second look in the NHL however remains to be seen.