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Senators Claim Victor Mete Off Waivers

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The Senators have added some extra depth to their back end off the waiver wire as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that Ottawa has claimed Victor Mete off waivers from Montreal.  This move comes off the heels of them trading Mike Reilly and Braydon Coburn late last night.

Mete has played a very limited role with the Canadiens this season, suiting up in just 14 games this season, picking up three assists while averaging a career-low 14:09 per game.  It’s a sharp contrast from the beginning of his career when he spent considerable time on the top pairing with Shea Weber but he was surpassed on the depth chart by Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, and Alexander Romanov as they were brought in over the last two years.  That resulted in an early-season trade request, one that was clearly not fulfilled and evidently Montreal couldn’t find a taker before waiving the 22-year-old yesterday.

With the limited role he had in the bubble, Mete opted to accept his $735K qualifying offer, making him a low-cost acquisition for Ottawa down the stretch.  However, he is eligible for salary arbitration this summer and with nearly 200 career NHL games under his belt, he will have a good case for a somewhat notable raise if it was to get to a hearing despite how things have gone this season.

But that’s an issue for the summer.  In the meantime, the Senators will get a free opportunity to take a closer look at Mete to see if he can be a part of their future plans.  As for Montreal, they basically brought in his replacement yesterday with the acquisition of Jon Merrill from Detroit so this news won’t affect any of their other plans before today’s trade deadline.

Montreal Canadiens Acquire Jon Merrill

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The Montreal Canadiens have added a defenseman that can potentially replace the recently-waived Victor Mete, acquiring Jon Merrill from the Detroit Red Wings. The Canadiens will send a 2021 fifth-round pick (OTT) and minor league forward Hayden Verbeek.

While the Canadiens obviously hope Mete clears waivers, they’ll add another depth defenseman to the group in Merrill, who was held out of the lineup by the Red Wings last night as a trade came together. The 29-year-old has played nearly 400 games in his career, and though Merrill isn’t much of an offensive producer, he does add some more size and experience to Montreal’s back end for a playoff run.

A pending unrestricted free agent, Merrill also comes with just a $925K cap hit (which Detroit did not retain any of), making him one of the more affordable options on the defense market. He could potentially be extended by Montreal, but this move is more about the upcoming North Division postseason run than anything else.

The Canadiens certainly looked like they needed some defensive help last night. The Winnipeg Jets picked them apart with a 5-0 victory, pushing Montreal to 17-12-9 on the season and just six points ahead of the Calgary Flames for the last playoff spot. Mete wasn’t even part of that game, watching Otto Leskinen skate just over 16 minutes instead. It’s that sixth spot that Merrill projects to fit into, though the team could still work with a rotation through the bottom pairing to find the right fit.

Adding defensive depth at the deadline is never a mistake, especially when it comes at the low cost of a fifth-round pick. But many will question the move if Mete ends up claimed off waivers. Still, Merrill definitely adds a better defensive presence and it’s clear that Mete isn’t a favorite of the current coaching staff after suiting up just 14 times this season.

In terms of the return, the Red Wings seem happy to collect as many mid-round picks as possible in a rebuilding season, but the deal also comes with a bit of fun. Verbeek is the nephew of former NHL forward Pat Verbeek, who just so happens to be the Red Wings assistant general manager.

Montreal Canadiens Place Victor Mete On Waivers

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The Montreal Canadiens have placed defenseman Victor Mete on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. With it being the last day to place players on waivers before the trade deadline, it could ignite suggestions that the team is ready to let the youngster go.  The 22-year-old defenseman has been involved in trade rumors most of the season.

While many interesting players have hit the wire and not claimed this season, it would seem hard to imagine that Mete will clear waivers considering he is making just $735K, is so young, can be controlled for three more seasons and has 185 NHL games under his belt. He is a perfect candidate to be claimed by weaker teams, looking to add a solid defensive defenseman as well as playoff teams looking to add cheap blueline help. One positive stat from Mete is his plus/minus which is a plus-30 throughout his career.

While offense has never been Mete’s strength and he actually did struggle scoring a goal for much of the early part of his career, Mete did score four goals and 11 points last season in 51 appearances, but has fallen out of favor this year in Montreal, only appearing in 14 games. While the general belief was that the Canadiens would trade the blueliner, the team would now have to hope that no team claims him, making him more valuable as a taxi squad player. However, there could be a number of teams willing to keep him on their roster for the rest of the year.

Several Players Clear Waivers

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Saturday: All four players passed through waivers unclaimed, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston.

Friday: The Ottawa Senators have placed Clark Bishop on waivers in order to be able to place him on the taxi squad once again. He’s not the only one on the wire, as the Edmonton Oilers have placed veteran forward Kyle Turris and the Montreal Canadiens have placed Paul Byron on waivers. The New York Islanders have also signed Kenneth Appleby to an NHL contract, meaning he has to clear waivers to remain in the AHL.

For Bishop and the Senators, this is a simple move to regain the roster flexibility they have had for most of the season. After clearing waivers before the season began, Bishop was able to move freely between the active roster and taxi squad depending on need, saving the Senators some cash on off days. His exempt status expired earlier this month, meaning he needed to clear again to be assigned to the taxi squad. With just three points in 12 games, Bishop is likely to clear again.

Byron too should be used to this by now, given he has cleared waivers twice this season and is part of a near-daily rotation through the taxi squad. The 31-year-old forward was once an important part of the Canadiens attack but is limited to mostly fourth-line duties these days. Given his contract carries a $3.4MM cap hit through the end of the 2022-23 season, he will clear again.

Turris hasn’t cleared this season, but it won’t be a surprise if he does. The 31-year-old forward is a shadow of the player that once scored 64 points for the Ottawa Senators and is overpaid even at $1.65MM this season. Turris signed a two-year deal with the Oilers in the offseason that the team is probably already regretting after he registered just five points in his first 25 games this season. Moving his deal to the taxi squad could bury $1.075MM of it, giving the Oilers some added flexibility.

Appleby, the biggest unknown of the bunch, is a 25-year-old minor league goaltender that would need an NHL deal in order to serve as the taxi squad netminder. In two appearances with Bridgeport this season he has an .896 save percentage and there is no suggestion that he’ll ever see time in the Islanders net.  CapFriendly reports that Appleby receives a two-year contract, making him eligible to be exposed to Seattle in the upcoming expansion draft.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Cole Caufield Wins 2021 Hobey Baker Memorial Award

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As expected, Montreal Canadiens prospect Cole Caufield has been named the 2021 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner. The 20-year-old forward beat out Shane Pinto and Dryden McKay, the other two Hat Trick Finalists that were announced earlier this month.

Though the other finalists had outstanding seasons, this was always going to be Caufield’s year after leading the nation in goals and points. The diminutive forward recorded 30 goals and 52 points as a sophomore for the University of Wisconsin, while also helping lead the U.S. World Junior team to gold. It was an incredible performance for the 15th overall selection from 2019, one which has now put him in a small fraternity of Hobey Baker winners.

Caufield quickly signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens after Wisconsin was eliminated from the NCAA tournament–in a game where he recorded 13 shots, scoring two goals and registering an assist in a losing effort—and is expected to make his professional debut for the Laval Rocket tonight.

It’s difficult to have a better two post-draft years than Caufield has, and Canadiens fans are anxiously awaiting his time in Montreal. Though he stands just 5’7″ he is the first player in Big Ten hockey history to win consecutive scoring titles and is an offensive machine from anywhere in the attacking zone. He has broken records at the U.S. National Team Development Program, tied some of Alex Ovechkin’s U18 international records, and now added the Hobey Baker to his growing resume.

If you want to bet against Caufield because of his size, you’re probably going to lose your money.

Brendan Gallagher Out Six Weeks

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The Montreal Canadiens will be without one of their most important players for the rest of the regular season, as Brendan Gallagher has been placed on long-term injured reserve with a fractured thumb. The Canadiens expect him to miss at least six weeks, which means he won’t be back before the postseason.

Importantly, that means Gallagher’s entire $3.75MM cap hit can essentially be used as room for another deadline upgrade, given the playoffs do not have any cap restraints. Montreal was pressed quite close up against the $81.5MM ceiling after acquiring Eric Staal recently, but now have a little extra wiggle room to play with should GM Marc Bergevin wish to make another addition.

Still, he’d obviously rather have Gallagher in the lineup as the Canadiens try to fight for seeding down the stretch. The 28-year-old forward is the true heart and soul of the team’s forward group and is second on the team in goals this season with 14. His 23 points in 35 games also put him fourth, meaning a huge part of the team’s offensive attack is now missing.

Despite Bergevin’s claims that it would be a quiet deadline for Montreal, there is reason to believe they could add another piece. The team now sits eight points clear of the Vancouver Canucks in the North Division playoff race (one which seems all but concluded) and still has four games at hand on each of the three teams ahead of them. Should the team go on a strong run down the stretch they could easily secure higher seeding or perhaps even home-ice advantage (such as it is) in the first round.

Goalie Notes: Senators, Price, Ranking

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The Ottawa Senators have moved Pierre Groulx out of his role as goaltending coach, replacing him with Zac Bierk. Groulx will now work with the scouting staff and development team after serving as goalie coach since 2016. Senators GM Pierre Dorion explained the move:

Unfortunately, a number of our goaltending performances this season have been underwhelming. I think very highly of Pierre Groulx, he’s as dedicated and tireless a worker as anyone in the organization, but we recently reached a point where we thought a fresh outlook could help return some stability to our crease.

The Senators have a combined save percentage of .887 this season, only ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers’ .878 mark. The biggest contributor to that poor performance has been Matt Murray, who has an .880 in 22 appearances after signing a four-year, $25MM deal with Ottawa in the offseason. Murray’s contract is actually back-loaded with $15MM in salary owed over the last two years, meaning he’ll need to get his game back on track to be worth it for Ottawa.

  • Carey Price will not be traveling with the Montreal Canadiens to Toronto for their upcoming games, instead remaining at home to get treatment on his injury. Cayden Primeau has been recalled from the AHL to the taxi squad to give the team a third goaltender during the trip. Head coach Dominique Ducharme told reporters including Eric Engels of Sportsnet that Price’s injury is a lingering one and the goaltender should only be considered day-to-day at this point.
  • Even though Price hasn’t been good this season, posting a .903 save percentage through 23 appearances, his contemporaries still believe he has the ability to be among the best in the world. ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski polled ten active NHL players (including three goaltenders) and ten people in hockey operations to create a ranking of the best goalies in the game and Price still came in third behind Andrei Vasilevskiy and Connor Hellebuyck. The list speaks to the up-and-down nature of the position, with other names like Carter Hart and Jacob Markstrom also ending up ranked despite brutal 2020-21 seasons.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Jan Mysak

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The Montreal Canadiens have reached a deal with another one of their top prospects, agreeing to terms with Jan Mysak on a three-year entry-level contract. The deal will start in 2020-21 and carry an average annual value of $850,833. Mysak is currently playing with the Laval Rocket on an amateur tryout.

The 18-year-old Mysak was the 48th overall pick in last year’s draft after a short run with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL. The Czech forward played 22 games for the junior team but managed 15 goals and 25 points, showing off the scoring ability that had been stifled at the professional level in his home country. The fact that Mysak was playing in the top Czech league as a teenager should be enough, but it was hard to know just how high his offensive ceiling was before seeing him dominate against players his own age.

A two-time representative at the World Juniors, Mysak has generally shown that when given room to get an impressive shot off, he can be an offensive catalyst. He still has work to do on his skating if he wants to be able to generate those scoring chances at the NHL level, but the fact that he’s already playing at the AHL level will only help push that development quickly. In 13 games for the Rocket he has just two goals but is gaining valuable experience in the faster and tougher North American style.

Montreal Canadiens Agree To Terms With Corey Schueneman

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The Montreal Canadiens have rewarded one of their AHL standouts, agreeing to terms on a one-year contract with Corey Schueneman. The two-way deal, which kicks in for the 2021-22 season, will pay Schueneman $750K at the NHL level and $175K at the AHL. He is currently playing for the Laval Rocket on an AHL contract.

Undrafted and now 25, this will be Schueneman’s first NHL contract. The former USHL defenseman spent four seasons at Western Michigan University and has now played 75 games at the minor league level. 21 of those contests have come for Laval this season, where Schueneman has seven points and has been a pleasant surprise.

Though the NHL still may be a long way off, the Canadiens obviously believe Schueneman can be a valuable asset to the organization and is worthy of this kind of deal. It means he can be recalled to Montreal next season as an injury replacement, though his current role in Laval seems the more likely reprisal. In the summer of 2022, Schueneman will still be a restricted free agent with some team control.

Trade Deadline Primer: New York Rangers

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We are now less than two weeks away from the NHL Trade Deadline and talks are heating up. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make?  We continue our look around the league with the New York Rangers.

The New York Rangers are a rebuilding team with a large assortment of promising, young pieces to build around. The team has been competitive this season, but is still a few pieces away from rounding out into a contender.

This is the description of a seller. The problem this poses to the Rangers: who are they supposed to sell? The roster is completely devoid of valuable impending free agents. Not one of New York’s UFA’s-to-be is at the top or even the middle of any buyer’s wish list. In a cap-strapped, expansion-affected, in-season trade market, the Rangers are also not going to make any major moves right now to shake up their roster or look to add those missing core pieces. The Rangers should be sellers; they simply have nothing to sell at this moment.

Record

16-15-4, .514, 6th in East Division

Deadline Status

Stand Pat (By Default)

Deadline Cap Space

$4.01MM in full-season space ($17.87MM at the deadline), 0/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts used per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2021: NYR 1st, BUF 3rd, NYR 3rd, OTT 4th, LAK 4th, NYR 4th, NYR 5th, NYR 6th, NYR 7th
2022: NYR 1st, NYR 2nd, NYR 3rd, NYR 4th, NYR 5th, NYR 6th, NYR 7th

Trade Chips

A warning for the following: the word “chips” should be taken with a grain of salt – and nothing is worse than chips without enough salt. The Rangers’ trade chips are either under-seasoned or old and stale. New York could deal the whole bag for the trade capital equivalent of 99 cents. There is nothing to see here.

The most recognizable rentals on the New York roster are veteran defensemen Jack Johnson and Brandon Smith, two of the most maligned defenders in the NHL in recent years. Johnson has already cleared waivers without any takers, while Smith’s $4.35MM contract means he is unlikely to move.

Phil Di Giuseppe is the Ranger’s lone impending free agent forward on the NHL roster and their best available rental. The 27-year-old winger has eight points in 25 games, which isn’t anything special, but puts him on a 26-point full-season pace – a good value at just $700K. Di Giuseppe may not be a household name, but he has nearly 200 NHL games to his credit as well. Contenders could do worse for a cheap depth rental.

As for players with some term on their contracts, the Rangers could listen on forwards Colin Blackwell and Kevin Rooney, defenseman Anthony Bitetto, or veteran goaltender Keith Kinkaid. However, they have to be wary of the Expansion Draft exposure requirements and the repercussions that moving any of these players would have. Especially at forward, where the team already dealt away Brendan Lemieux, moving another term forward is a shaky proposition.

Of course, the big name on the block in New York is defenseman Anthony DeAngelo. With more than enough talent to command a nice trade return on ability alone, the fact is that if a DeAngelo trade was going to happen, it likely would have already. Some teams are wary of his character concerns, while others are not comfortable with adding his $4.8MM cap hit to their 2021-22 payroll. Either way, DeAngelo seems likely to stay put in New York through the season until he can be used as Expansion Draft fodder and then bought out. DeAngelo is too good not to play in the NHL again, but it won’t be this year.

Others to Watch For: F Jonny Brodzinski ($700K, UFA), F Anthony Greco ($737.5K, 2022 UFA), F Patrick Newell ($792.5K, RFA), D Darren Raddysh ($700K, Group 6 UFA), D Mason Geertsen ($725K, 2022 UFA)

Team Needs

1) Draft Picks and Prospects – Read: Mid-to-late-round draft picks and C- or D-level prospects. Sorry, Rangers fans. This is not going to be an exciting deadline. This is the best you can hope for. Hold tight until the off-season and wait for GM Jeff Gorton to try to swing a blockbuster for a top-six center.

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