Minor Transactions: 11/20/17
With just six games on a Monday and a couple of suspensions last night, many teams may look to make minor changes to their roster for the coming week. Keep up with those moves right here:
- The Vancouver Canucks announced they have recalled defenseman Philip Holm from the Utica Comets and reassigned Patrick Wiercioch in a corresponding move. Holm will be recalled for first time as the undrafted free agent signed a one-year deal with Vancouver this summer. At 25 years of age and coming over from Sweden, he needed time to adjust to the North American hockey, but appears to be ready. He has played 15 games for Utica, leading all Comet defensemen in scoring as he has put up two goals and eight assists on the year. Wiercioch, who had been shuttled up and down for most of the season has been up with the team since Oct. 23, but has been serving as an emergency defenseman and hasn’t seen any action yet this year. He has only played two games for the Comets this season.
- The Nashville Predators announced they have recalled forward Pontus Aberg and goaltender Juuse Saros as well as Frederick Gaudreau from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. The team also reassigned Anders Lindback to Milwaukee. Aberg had been serving in Milwaukee on a conditioning stint since Nov. 11. The 24-year-old had cracked the team’s lineup last year after putting up a 30-goal season in Milwaukee. He then proceeded to play in 16 playoff games for Nashville, but had trouble finding playing time this year as he had only played in nine games to start the year and was often a healthy scratch. In four games for the Admirals, he had four goals and two assists. Saros, the team’s backup behind starter Pekka Rinne, has struggled in his time with the Predators. In four games, he has posted a 3.94 GAA and a .855 save percentage. He was sent down to start for Milwaukee to get in some playing time. Although he took the loss in Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Monsters, he only allowed two goals in the game, stopping 20 shots. Lindback returns to Milwaukee after serving as an emergency backup for the team on Saturday.
- Arizona Sports reported that the Arizona Coyotes have assigned defenseman Dakota Mermis to the AHL Tucson Roadrunners. The 23-year-old blueliner has played seven games for Arizona with the team’s rash of defensive injuries from Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jakob Chychrun. Hjalmarsson is expected to return to the lineup tonight.
- The Dallas Stars have recalled goaltender Mike McKenna from the AHL Texas Stars Monday as backup Kari Lehtonen is unavailable due to personal reasons, according to the team. The 34-year-old McKenna has been a journeyman in the AHL and last got into an NHL game with the Arizona Coyotes back in the 2014-15 season and has played in 22 NHL games in his career. In 12 games with Texas, he has a 3.51 GAA. The Stars also announced they have recalled defenseman Julius Honka from Texas. The 2014 first-round pick has been unable to carve out a full-time role with Dallas as he struggled to earn playing time at the start of the year. He was sent down on Oct. 31 after playing six games, putting up no points. He played eight games with the Texas Stars, but also failed to produce a point.
Snapshots: Price, Girard, Kane, Devils
Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price has been out with a “minor” lower-body injury since Montreal’s Nov. 2 game against the Minnesota Wild. Two weeks later, Price hasn’t returned to the lineup. Last Tuesday, it was announced that he would sit out two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) as his injury wasn’t healing as suspected. Then he proceeded to sit out of practice Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the team didn’t practice Sunday. That led Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan to suggest that things don’t seem to be adding up in Montreal.
The scribe writes that this no longer seems like a “minor” injury at all and questions whether it ever was. When Cowan asked Canadiens’ coach Claude Julien about whether there was an update on Price’s condition, his response was, “No.”
No one has said what the specific injury is that Price has sustained and the goalie insists that it has nothing to do with the right knee injury in November two years ago that was also held secret for a large chunk of the season. Cowan suggests the lack of information the team has given out can only lead to speculation, suggesting that maybe the team might be looking to trade Price before his eight year, $84MM extension kicks in next year.
- Mike Chambers of the Denver Post tweets that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard is in the lineup against the Detroit Red Wings, meaning that he officially has entered into Year 1 of his entry-level deal. He played five games for the Nashville Predators, and after being dealt to Colorado in the Matt Duchene trade, has played five games for the Avalanche. He would have had to be returned to his junior team before he played in his 10th game had the team wanted to avoid burning the first year of his entry-level deal.
- The Athletic’s Craig Custance (subscription required) did a Q&A on Buffalo Sabres winger Evander Kane and the forward was quick to say that he is well aware of the trade speculation that surrounds him and rather than block it out, he just chooses to focus on his on-ice play. “It’s not going to do you any good or help your case or your team. For me, I just embrace it. I enjoy it. It’s something that you have to be aware of,” Kane said.
- Andrew Gross of The Record writes that the New Jersey Devils have shaken up their lines in practice today, which are expected to go into effect in their game Monday against Minnesota Wild. There will be several changes, but Pavel Zacha, who was a healthy scratch for four of the last five games, is expected to move into the top six, while Adam Henrique is expected to move down to the fourth line.
Austin Watson To Face Player Safety Hearing
It looks like Radko Gudas won’t be the only player speaking with the NHL Department of Player Safety today. The league has announced that Nashville Predators forward Austin Watson also has a disciplinary date today. Watson was the perpetrator of a hard check from behind on Colorado Avalanche rookie Dominic Toninato yesterday.
As you can see in the video, Watson hit Toninanto right on the numbers with some real force and may have even gotten his elbow up in Toninato’s head area as well. The hit occurred midway through the first period in what was Toninato’s NHL debut. Watson was given a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct, leaving his team short-handed for much of the game, though the Predators still won 5-2. Toninato missed much of the game, but did return later on in the third period.
A notably physical player, Watson has nevertheless never been suspended in his NHL career. Also, unlike Gudas, the league requested only a phone hearing with Watson, meaning that a suspension – if any – will be less than five games. It may be the first major infraction for Watson, but given the ferocity of the check and the league’s efforts to clean up the game, it seems likely that Watson will end up with a suspension of some sort.
Juuse Saros Likely To Return In Early December
- Yesterday, the Predators demoted backup goalie Jusse Saros in what was a bit of a surprising move. Head coach Peter Laviolette told Adam Vingan of The Tennessean that the decision was made primarily to give Saros some playing time; he has only made four starts so far this season. Nashville isn’t set to play back-to-back until December 4th and 5th so there’s a good chance Saros and Anders Lindback will be flipped once again at that time.
Vladislav Kamenev Out Indefinitely With Broken Arm
Imagine the worst way to make an impact for your new team. That’s what happened to Vladislav Kamenev, who was playing in his first game for the Colorado Avalanche when he suffered a broken arm. The young forward is out indefinitely according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, cutting short his Colorado debut before it even really had a chance to start. Kamenev was acquired along with Samuel Girard from the Nashville Predators in last week’s Matt Duchene–Kyle Turris swap, and was expected to stick with the NHL club for at least the time being.
The 21-year old Kamenev was drafted by the Predators 42nd-overall in 2014, and has developed into a solid two-way center that figures into the Avalanche long-term plans. He made his NHL debut last season with a pair of games for Nashville, but is still looking for his first big-league point. In 14 AHL games split between Milwaukee and San Antonio, he has 12 points.
Colorado head coach Jared Bednar spoke about the unfortunate situation after the game, saying that they “know what they have” in Kamenev and will patiently wait for his return. While some may immediately point to Tyson Jost (who was sent down to the minor leagues this week) as a potential call-up, Bednar and the front office believes getting some playing time with San Antonio is better for his development.
Nashville Predators Swap Saros, Lindback
In a surprising move, the Nashville Predators have sent goaltender Juuse Saros to the AHL and recalled Anders Lindback to take his place. After an incredible season last year, Saros looked ready to take on a bigger role with the Predators this season. Instead he’s struggled through four games, recording an .855 save percentage. Lindback meanwhile is leading the AHL in wins and carries a .918 save percentage through his first 11 games.
The move is likely to get the 22-year old Saros some more playing time and avoid stifling his development, but it does come with an interesting wrinkle. Lindback is not waiver-exempt, meaning the team only has a certain amount of time to swap them back before they would have to expose the older goaltender to the rest of the league. Since he cleared waivers before the season, he has 30 days (or 10 games) on the active roster before he needs to clear again. Though Lindback is by no means a star goaltender, he has shown over the years to be a capable backup.
Lindback was first drafted by the Predators in 2008, and made quite the impression in his first few seasons. As a rookie in 2010-11 he backed up Pekka Rinne quite admirably, recording a .918 save percentage through his 22 appearances. Nashville would eventually trade him to the Tampa Bay Lightning for some draft picks, where he was expected to grow into a starting goaltender. It would never happen, and Lindback’s career took him to several other stops including back to Sweden last year.
Still, if he shows that he can still provide solid backup goaltending on a minimum salary contract (Lindback earns just $650K in the NHL) he could be a target on waivers. For now, he’ll be asked to back up Rinne once again, many years later.
Snapshots: MacArthur, Predators, Matthews, Zajac
Clarke MacArthur failed his physical before the season, and according to GM Pierre Dorion on TSN radio he likely won’t be playing at all this year. MacArthur is not with the team and has moved to Florida, which could signal the disappointing end to a solid career.
MacArthur came back for the Senators just before the playoffs last year, and was an integral part of their run to game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals. His career was derailed by head injuries, but he was once a consistent offensive producer and reliable top-six winger. In 552 games he scored 304 points. Dorion did admit that they’d look at bringing him back in should he want to play next season, as he’s under contract for $4.65MM per season through 2019-20. More likely he’ll spend the next few seasons on long-term injured reserve.
- The Nashville Predators also have some bad news when it comes to injuries, as the team announced Yannick Weber and Scott Hartnell would each be out several weeks with their respective injuries. While Nick Bonino is back from his injured reserve stint, losing Weber and Hartnell will put some more stress on the Predators’ depth chart. Luckily, the team already relies so heavily on their top three defensemen that Weber’s role shouldn’t be too difficult to fill. While Hartnell is a bit tougher, there are several young wingers ready to step into the situation.
- The New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs could each get a boost to their forward group when they meet on Thursday night, as both Travis Zajac and Auston Matthews have a chance to play. Zajac was back at practice centering the top line for the Devils today, while Matthews was on the ice for an hour with a few teammates despite being given the day off. The Devils and Maple Leafs each have 24 points through the first part of the season, and it should be a good matchup on Thursday especially if both get their top centers back.
Frederick Gaudreau Assigned To Milwaukee, Pontus Aberg Loaned On Conditioning Stint
- The Predators announced that they have assigned winger Frederick Gaudreau to Milwaukee of the AHL while loaning winger Pontus Aberg to the minors as well on a conditioning assignment. Gaudreau has played in ten contests with Nashville this season, recording two assists while Aberg has a pair of helpers in nine games but has only played once so far in November.
Bonino Close To Returning; Turris To Debut Saturday
- After landing Kyle Turris via trade over the weekend, the Predators are getting closer to getting another center back in their lineup as Nick Bonino is nearing a return to game action, notes Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Bonino has missed the last ten games due to a lower-body injury sustained back on October 14th. Considering the team gave him a four-year, $16.4MM contract back in the summer, it will be interesting to see if they deploy him as their third line center or if they opt instead to try him on the wing inside their top-six.
- Speaking of Turris, Vingan reports in the same column that he has gone through the immigration visa process, freeing him up to join the team. The Predators are off until Saturday and it’s expected that Turris will make his Nashville debut in that game against Pittsburgh.
Poll: Who Won The Matt Duchene-Kyle Turris Trade?
Yesterday brought the culmination of several weeks of work for the front offices of three separate franchises. Ottawa, Colorado and Nashville consummated the biggest trade of the season, and the first three-team trade in several years. Kyle Turris ended up on the Predators and Matt Duchene on the Senators while Colorado finally got their haul of prospects and draft picks. Nashville only made the deal contingent on a Turris contract extension, which came in the form of six years at $6MM per season. That deal will keep the 28-year old center in Nashville until 2024, and immediately improves their depth down the middle.
Colorado GM Joe Sakic has been criticized for months as the Duchene saga lingered on and on, as he seemed to be over-valuing him in trade. Duchene clearly wanted out of Denver, and it was frustrating for many to watch him struggle in front of the media for so long. Still, Duchene went about his work and showed early this season he was still an elite player. That allowed Sakic to stick to his price tag, which eventually resulted in quite the haul.
Ottawa on the other hand had been pursuing Duchene for quite some time, with GM Pierre Dorion saying he first approached Sakic about him at the 2016 GM meetings. The Ontario-born center has just one year on his contract after this one, but has elite upside and could help the Senators take the next step in the playoffs. Already they found themselves in the Eastern Conference finals last season, and if Duchene can get back to the nearly point-per-game player he has been at times throughout his career they could go even further.
So who really won this trade? All three could claim victory, but there are risks on each side. Cast your vote and explain in the comments why.
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