Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Devils Rumors

Colorado’s Odds At The First Overall Pick

at CDT | by 7 Comments

Early this season, the Colorado Avalanche were in the most enviable position in sports. Their team was excelling and looking playoff-bound, but without any negative effect on their draft status. Because as the Avs won games, the Ottawa Senators were losing them and Colorado owned the Sens’ first-round pick this year as part of last season’s Matt Duchene trade. There was a real possibility that the Avalanche could be Stanley Cup contenders and also have the first overall pick in the draft. Lately, the Avs have looked less like a playoff team and more like the Senators. Colorado has four wins in their past 23 games dating back to mid-December and have slipped into a tie for tenth-place in the Western Conference, three points out of a playoff spot. The one silver lining: their odds at drafting No. 1 have improved and might end up being the best in several years.

Ahead of the 2014 NHL Draft, the NHL changed the draft lottery rules. Any team in the lottery could now move up into a top-three position and the odds would be more fairly distributed among all lottery teams. There have been slight variations in the odds for each draft, but the biggest shift came last year when the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights to the league added a fifteenth member of the lottery group and further split the odds. Yet, with 18.5% odds, the last-placed Buffalo Sabres still retained the first overall pick and drafted Rasmus Dahlin, a generational defenseman. This year’s prize, play-making forward Jack Hughes, is seen by most scouts as a guaranteed top-six center and power play wizard and the team with the worst record still stands the best chance of getting him by a significant margin.

Of course, the worst record looks like it will belong to Ottawa and thus the pick will belong to Colorado. The Senators are currently in 31st overall in the league standings, three points back of the Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils. If those standings hold, based on last year’s odds Colorado will have a 18.5% chance that the Ottawa pick will be first overall, compared to 13.5% for L.A. and 11.5% for New Jersey. Then, Colorado’s own pick comes into play. Currently, the Avs are technically 23rd overall. If they remain in that spot, they would have 5% odds that their own pick would be No. 1. Combined, they would have a 23.5% shot at picking first. Since 2014, no team has come close to having odds that high at the top pick and Colorado could continue to struggle down the stretch and improve the odds on their own pick. If the Avs were to slip three more spots in the league standings, their odds would be greater than 25%, giving them better than a one-in-four shot at Hughes.

The possibilities are even more intriguing when you consider the odds of both picks winning the lottery instead of just one. Currently, there is about a 0.9% chance that Colorado could pick first and second, not dissimilar odds to those that the final lottery team has of picking first. The addition of both Hughes and the presumptive No. 2 pick, Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko, would be an enormous influx of elite draft talent unseen since the Sedin twins landed with the Vancouver Canucks at second and third overall in 1999. There is a whopping 58% chance that both of their picks land in the top four, which would also be an unbelievable boost for the Avalanche with a number of impact forwards available in this class. And again, these odds can only improve if the Avalanche continue on this downward spiral. If the current standings hold, the worst that Colorado could do is to pick fourth and twelfth – which would still be a better first-round combination than any team in recent years – and the odds of that happening are approximately 18x less likely than picking both first and second; the best case is greater reality than the worst-case.

The moral of the story is that, while it’s disappointing for Avalanche fans to see a talented team plummeting down the standings, there is some upside as well. The team is young and built for the future and are in better shape than any team in recent memory to add the best player in the draft and perhaps two of the best available. So whether you’re a Colorado fan soley focused on Hughes or holding out for another top prospect as well, the team’s current slump is only helping in that pursuit. The ping pong balls will ultimately decide the Avs’ fate, but the future is bright.

Metropolitan Notes: Johansson, Zibanejad, Lamoriello

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With so many names being bandied about before the trade deadline, no one know who will be the next domino to fall. One name that could be moved sooner than later will be New Jersey Devils winger Marcus Johansson, who according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, has generated quite a bit of interest in the last couple of days.

Johansson, who was featured by Pro Hockey Rumors  as a trade candidate here, was a key player for the Washington Capitals over the years, but the team traded him away the year before they won the Stanley Cup Finals. He’s struggled with injuries since arriving in New Jersey in 2017, scoring just five goals and 14 points last year in just 29 games. He has fared a little better this year as he has 11 goals and 25 point in 46 games, but the 28-year-old has been heating up more recently. He has scored five goals and 10 points in his last 11 games and could provide a team with a solid rental player for a playoff run.

LeBrun adds that Johansson has a five-team no-trade list, but none of the teams on his list are teams that would be interested in trading for him. A trade could come quickly as New Jersey general manager Ray Shero is well known to make his trades long before the trade deadline. The team has already moved Brian Boyle.

  • Colin Stephenson of Newsday writes that despite a breakout season by New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad, the 25-year-old isn’t enjoying it as he is having trouble coping with the team’s compounding losses. Zibanejad has 25 goals already this season with his career high being 27, which he scored last year. He currently projects to post 36 goals and 82 points, potentially making him a point-a-game player and giving the Rangers the No. 1 center they hoped for and a key piece to their rebuilding project. However, Zibanejad isn’t dealing with his success well. “Of course I’d be lying if I say I don’t know that it’s my career numbers,” Zibanejad said. “But at the same time, you don’t enjoy it if your team is not benefiting from it, and we’re not winning. That’s what we’re in this business for — winning. And if you don’t do that, good or bad, you don’t really care.’’
  • New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said he’d be fine if the Islanders stand pat at the trade deadline despite having plenty of prospects, picks and pending unrestricted free agents it could deal if needed, according to Newsday’s Andrew Gross. “I am very comfortable with this hockey team,” Lamoriello said. “Our coaching staff has done an outstanding job and the players have done an outstanding job buying into what’s been asked. You have to be very, very careful. There are so many factors involved, whether it’s the chemistry of your team, needs and making sure that it doesn’t get in the way of what’s transpiring.” Of course, Lamoriello is known to be secretive in nature, however, and could easily pull off the biggest surprise at the trade deadline as he’s has been known to do when with both Toronto and New Jersey.

Brian Gibbons Clears Waivers

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Saturday: Gibbons has cleared waivers, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).

Friday: The Anaheim Ducks have very few impending free agents to peddle at the deadline, especially as they continue to pursue an extension with forward Jakob Silfverberg. One of the few rentals of value was thought to be veteran forward Brian Gibbons. Well, instead the team placed Gibbons on waivers today, reports The Athletic’s James Mirtle, and contenders are now free to scoop him up.

Gibbons, 30, had played exclusively in the minors for more than two years before the start of the 2017-18 season. An aging, undersized forward, Gibbons was an unlikely candidate for a breakout year. Yet, he won a job with the New Jersey Devils and recorded 12 goals and 26 points in 52 games, both career highs and among the Devils’ top nine forwards. When he reached free agency this summer, Gibbons turned down opportunities elsewhere to sign a one-year, $1MM contract in Anaheim, where he saw a chance to remain in the NHL full-time through another season. Barring a claim in the next 24 hours, that might not happen.

Gibbons has been a non-factor for the Ducks this year, registering just five points in 43 games. With the team trying to turn their season around, and GM Bob Murray now at the helm as head coach, it seems they have opted to move on from Gibbons, who has not lived up to his performance from last season. However, that doesn’t mean another team won’t take a chance. Gibbons’ affordable cap hit is virtually meaningless at this point in the season, so a team with some roster flexibility looking for a veteran body may be interested in taking a risk-free, cost-free gamble. Gibbons showed last year that in the right situation he can still be a capable goal-scoring winger and even with the Ducks has shown consistent effort and two-way contribution. There are many players of Gibbons’ caliber available at the deadline, but not often are they up for grabs on waivers. A playoff contender could certainly put in a claim if they have not been scared off by the drop in production this year.

Devils Sign Nikita Popugaev To AHL Contract

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The New Jersey Devils have convinced a draft pick to come back to North America, signing Nikita Popugaev to an AHL contract for the remainder of the 2018-19 season. Popugaev had played his junior hockey in the CHL and was once a top prospect projected for the first round, but slipped to the fourth after his production dried up. Soon after being drafted in 2017 the big forward left for the KHL, where he once again struggled to put up any offense.

Still, there is plenty of potential in the 6’6″ forward and the Devils have nothing to lose with an AHL contract. Popugaev will get a chance to test his skills in the AHL while working with the team’s strong development staff to try and get him to the next level. There’s no guarantee of anything, but with fourth-round picks there rarely is.

The Devils have also avoided using a contract slot by signing Popugaev to a minor league deal, but will eventually have to make a decision over whether he deserves an entry-level contract. The team is currently sitting at 47 of a possible 50 deals, but will see 20 of those expire at the end of the season.

Overseas Notes: Scoring, Merzlikins, Popugaev

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Scoring is up in the NHL this season, but their European counterparts can’t say the same. As the regular seasons for the major overseas leagues begin to wind down, the numbers show that none can keep up with the goal scorers of the NHL; the old adage that European hockey is more wide open and offensive is not holding up. On average, NHL teams are scoring approximately 3.03 goals per game in 2018-19. Contrast that to the KHL, thought to be closest competitor to the NHL on the basis of skill, where teams are only scoring about 2.47 goals per game on average and many are failing to score even two per game. The Finnish Liiga is the closest to the NHL at 2.72 goals per game per team, but even that is a ways off. Swiss NLA teams are recording approximately 2.66 goals per game, while Swedish Hockey league clubs are at 2.57 goals per game.

Even more peculiar than the gap between goal scoring in the NHL and Europe is the distribution of points. As there are fewer goals being scored in the four major European leagues, there are less opportunities to register points, even for star players. However, one would assume that there would still be plenty of standouts in each of the four leagues who find their way on to the score sheet each and every night. That would be a false assumption. Currently there are 41 players in the NHL averaging a point per game or better in at least half of their teams’ games. In the KHL, NLA, SHL, and Liiga combined, there are nine. The KHL leads the way with four such scorers, headed up by Vegas Golden Knights property Nikita Gusev, the top scoring forward in Europe with 1.30 points per game – such a mark would be seventh-best in the NHL. Familiar names Nigel Dawes and Vadim Shipachyov are also in the group, as is intriguing free agent option Dmitri Kagarlitsky. Over in the NLA, more recognizable veterans are scoring at a point-per-game clip or better, including Dustin Jeffrey, Chris DiDomenico, and Mark Arcobello. However, the league leader at 1.20 is none other than Dominik Kubalik, whose rights were just acquired by the Chicago Blackhawks last month and who could be eyeing a move to North America. The lone elite scorer in Finland is small, but skilled 23-year-old Iikka Kangasniemi, who is also certain to draw NHL interest this off-season as well. The SHL does not feature any point-per-game players currently. So, next time you feel the urge to complain about the lack of scoring or star scorers in the NHL, just take comfort in the fact that at least you’re not in Europe. All four leagues pale in comparison to the NHL in those departments this season.

  • In an article for The Athletic about the future of the Columbus Blue Jackets in net, Aaron Portzline posits that prospect Elvis Merzlikins could arrive in North America before the end of the season. Merzlikins, 24, was a third-round pick by Columbus back in 2014 and has been a regular in net for HC Lugano of the NLA ever since. The Latvian goaltender gets better each year and this season has posted a .922 save percentage and 2.37 GAA that are both among the top ten keepers in Switzerland. Yet, Lugano is in danger of missing the postseason, which would hypothetically allow Merzlikins to finally make his move to Columbus as early as March. Portzline writes that many in the Blue Jackets organization feel Merzlikins is ready to play in the NHL right away, which could certainly be a possibility this season if the team does indeed opt to trade impending UFA starter Sergei Bobrovsky. Even if Lugano does make the playoffs or Columbus determines they do not want to throw him into the fire right away, the young keeper is still guaranteed to be crossing the Atlantic after this season and should compete for NHL minutes immediately next year.
  • New Jersey Devils prospect Nikita Popugaev is also eyeing a jump to North America. Initially considered to be a first-round caliber talent in the 2017 NHL Draft, Popugaev ended up falling to the Devils in the fourth round due to questions about his motor and work ethic. The big winger didn’t help to quell those concerns when he left his WHL team, the Prince George Cougars, early last season to return to his native Russia. However, his current team, the KHL’s Amur Khabarovsk, have announced that Popugaev has left the team and will “try his hand” back in the U.S. His KHL contract has been terminated and he is now free to sign an entry-level contract with the Devils, but there has been no word of such a deal yet. Popugaev is still very raw and needs several more seasons of work in the minor leagues, but does have potential. The next question is whether the Devils feel that potential is worth a contract slot and the time and effort it may take to tap into it.

New Jersey Devils Claim Kenny Agostino

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The New Jersey Devils have decided to claim forward Kenny Agostino off waivers, meaning the Montreal Canadiens have lost another forward to the process. Montreal has already watched teams claim Nikita Scherbak and Jacob de La Rose this season. The Devils have sent Ryan Murphy to the minor leagues to make room, while recently acquired forward Dale Weise has been recalled by the Canadiens.

Agostino, a New Jersey native, will be reunited with the GM that drafted him in 2010 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. When Ray Shero used a fifth-round selection on the undersized forward he knew there was a lot of offensive potential there, but perhaps could not have imagined just how well Agostino would fare in the minor leagues. A former AHL MVP, the 26-year old Agostino has recorded 246 points in 273 regular season minor league games. Unfortunately that minor league success hasn’t translated to NHL opportunity, with 36 of Agostino’s 58 career NHL games coming this season with the Canadiens.

Still, there is little risk in a pickup of this nature for the Devils. Agostino is on a two-way contract that pays just $700K in the NHL and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Either he can contribute a bit for New Jersey down the stretch, or potentially becomes a deadline trade asset for a team looking for some depth. Montreal obviously couldn’t move him for anything worthwhile, but perhaps a showcase in New Jersey could create a market for the talented forward. Otherwise, it gives Agostino a chance to get familiar with an organization who may want to bring him back next season. There’s little doubt that he can help a minor league club, but New Jersey might also experience quite a bit of turnover through the summer given that players like Marcus Johansson and Drew Stafford are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents.

Trade Candidate: Marcus Johansson

at CDT | by 1 Comment

With the trade deadline quickly approaching, we will be profiling several players in the weeks ahead that have a good chance to be dealt by February 25th.

Things haven’t gone particularly well for Marcus Johansson since being dealt to New Jersey two summers ago.  He has considerable trouble staying healthy and his production has dipped relative to how he performed in Washington.  That said, the 28-year-old still could be one of the more under the radar targets around the league over the next couple of weeks.

Contract

Johansson is in the final season of a three-year, $13.75MM contract that carries an AAV of $4.583MM and a $4.75MM salary.  He has a five-team no-trade clause and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency at the end of the season.

2018-19

Let’s get the bad out of the way first.  After missing the majority of last season with multiple concussions, he has already missed a dozen games with a couple of injuries.  Durability wasn’t a major concern over his last few years with Washington but it has been now.  On top of that, Johansson didn’t play particularly well early on and was even spending time on the third line.  That’s a far cry from being the reliable and consistent producer that he was with the Capitals.

Lately, though, Johansson has played a lot better.  Injuries have forced him into a bigger role and to his credit, he has stepped up which should boost his value around the league.  Over the past month, he’s logging over 18 minutes per night and between that and his versatility (he can play all three forward positions), he’s positioning himself to be an intriguing addition for some playoff-bound teams.

Season Stats

41 GP, 8 goals, 12 assists, 20 points, -11 rating, 8 PIMS, 84 shots, 16:06 ATOI, 49.7 CF%

Potential Suitors

With Johansson’s contract being an expiring one, only playoff-bound teams (or ones with postseason aspirations) are likely to have interest in acquiring him.  On top of that, his cap hit will also limit his suitors unless the Devils are willing to retain a portion of his contract (they can hold back up to 50%).

In the East, Pittsburgh doesn’t have the cap space to take on his full deal but they’d be an intriguing fit.  The Penguins are still searching for the right wingers alongside Sidney Crosby and given Johansson’s ability to play both sides, it’s possible he could get a shot there which would be a significant boost heading into free agency.  If Buffalo decides to try to add a player or two to give them some more firepower up front, they would be a good fit for Johansson as well.  Columbus could be looking for a short-term addition as well depending on what happens with Artemi Panarin so they could be involved here while if the Capitals could find the money, they’d be a dark horse as well.  (However, given their cap constraints, Andre Burakovsky would need to be a part of the deal with the Devils also retaining a sizable chunk of Johansson’s deal.)

Given his style of play, I think Johansson’s a better fit in the East but a handful of Western teams make sense as a fit.  San Jose may want to shift Marcus Sorensen back onto the fourth line which would open up a spot for Johansson on their third line but again, the cap will make it a little tricky.  The recent injury to Mikko Koivu in Minnesota opens up a big hole for them to try to fill and while Johansson can’t cover the defensive element that Koivu brings, he’d at least replace some of the offense.  Vegas will also probably be on the lookout for extra forward depth and will be limited to the rental market with their upcoming extensions.  GM George McPhee also has some familiarity from his time in Washington.

Likelihood Of A Trade

With New Jersey being well out of the postseason picture, the odds of Johansson getting dealt have to be high.  He’s not among the top rental players available but his recent play and versatility will make him an enticing piece for teams looking to add for the stretch run.  The contract may wind up limiting the return but the Devils should still be able to get a decent draft pick or prospect for Johansson.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor Transactions: 02/08/19

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

After an extremely busy night in the NHL the league is almost completely quiet this evening, with just one game between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers scheduled. Teams will surely use this day off to make slight tweaks to their roster, and we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • Casey Nelson has been sent to the minor leagues on a conditioning loan. The Buffalo Sabres defenseman has missed more than two months with an upper-body injury, but is apparently healthy enough to get back on the ice. Nelson, 26, had six points in 22 games before suffering the injury.
  • With Jayce Hawryluk heading to injured reserve, the Florida Panthers have recalled Bogdan Kiselevich from the minor leagues. Kiselevich hasn’t played nearly as much as expected when he signed out of the KHL, but could get another opportunity to show what he can do in order to entice a contender at the deadline.
  • Christian Djoos has been recalled from his conditioning loan by the Washington Capitals, but has not yet been activated from long-term injured reserve. Djoos could be ready to get back into the lineup this weekend, but does not have to come off LTIR until deemed completely healthy. Jonas Siegenthaler has been sent down to the minor leagues, signalling even further that Djoos will be activated at some point.
  • Cody Goloubef has been sent back down by the Ottawa Senators after playing in his first game of the season last night. The 29-year old defenseman was acquired by the Senators last month but is still expected to spend the majority of the year in the minor leagues.
  • Matt Luff has been sent down to the minors by the Los Angeles Kings, as the team prepares to activate Trevor Lewis from injured reserve. Luff has played in 30 games this season and has ten points, but will have to wait for his next chance in the NHL.
  • Malcolm Subban is healthy enough to resume playing for the Vegas Golden Knights, meaning Maxime Lagace has been sent back to the AHL. Lagace has been up with the team since the beginning of January, but only actually played in one game during that period.
  • The Colorado Avalanche have recalled Ryan Graves from the AHL, a welcome sight for many fans of the team. Graves made quite an impression during an earlier call-up and has two goals in nine games this season.
  • Egor Yakovlev has been sent back down to the minor leagues by the New Jersey Devils, who recently activated Ben Lovejoy off injured reserve. Yakovlev has played in 14 games this season for the Devils, providing five points.

Nashville Predators Acquire Brian Boyle

at CDT | by 15 Comments

The Nashville Predators have added some depth and size to their bottom-six, as Bob McKenzie of TSN reports they have finalized a deal to bring in Brian Boyle from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a 2019 second-round pick. Boyle is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and carries a $2.55MM cap hit.

At first blush, the cost of Boyle seems incredibly high given he has routinely played on the fourth line in New Jersey and is no longer a full-time center. Like he was for the Toronto Maple Leafs two years ago—when he also fetched a second-round pick as rental addition—Boyle is more than just a depth option. The 6’6″ forward is one of the most well-respected players in the entire league and has a wealth of playoff experience, suiting up 111 times in the postseason over his career. His versatility to play either center or left wing and ability on the penalty kill makes him a perfect fit for the Predators who have looked to add size since Austin Watson’s recent suspension.

There’s also the factor of Boyle’s experience in front of the net on the powerplay, where his huge frame can give goaltenders fits when trying to track the puck. The Predators powerplay has been their biggest weakness of late, and they desperately need someone who can clean things up in front. While Boyle is by no means a dynamic goal scoring threat, he does bring a certain consistency offensively and has recorded at least 13 goals in five consecutive seasons.

Still, the Devils have done well to acquire another reasonably high draft pick for of their pending free agent. With the team unlikely to make the playoffs this season, selling off expiring assets for futures will only help strengthen what is already a formidable young core in their attempt to compete in the future. While Nashville’s pick is likely to be near the end of the round, it’s still more valuable to the Devils than another few months of Boyle suiting up this season.

While this deal may seem to change the market for rental forwards, there are few players out there that bring the same mix of skills and experience. It certainly doesn’t mean that every other forward with more points than Boyle will draw a better return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

“Zero Chance” New Jersey Devils Will Trade Taylor Hall This Season

at CDT | by 1 Comment

With talk of the Columbus Blue Jackets possibly trading away their star players Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky to avoid losing them for nothing has led other teams to reassess their teams in hopes of avoiding similar problems with their own stars.

One team that many are looking at are the New Jersey Devils and Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall. The 27-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2019-20 season and with New Jersey’s struggles in the standings, there is concern that Hall may want to walk just like Panarin or Bobrovsky do in Columbus. There are some who believe that New Jersey may want to consider moving Hall now, despite the fact that he has been struggling with injuries this year and has just 11 goals in 33 games, could bring back a bigger return if a playoff team could have Hall for a playoff run this year and then an entire season in 2019-20 before he hit free agency. Hall’s $6MM salary would seem like a bargain for a former Hart Trophy winner, who tallied 39 goals and 93 points a year ago.

However last night, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night in Canada that he spoke to New Jersey general manager Ray Shero who said that there was a “zero chance” the team will be trading Hall this season. That doesn’t rule out the team may consider making a big trade this summer in hopes of rejuvenating their team which currently stands 12 points out of a playoff spot with 31 games to go.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top