Coyotes Recall Ryan McGregor On Emergency Basis
The Coyotes have made a roster move up front in advance of their game tonight against St. Louis, announcing (Twitter link) that they have recalled Ryan McGregor from AHL Tucson on an emergency basis.
The 24-year-old is in his fourth season in the pros and this is his first-ever recall to the NHL. McGregor, originally a sixth-round pick by Toronto back in 2017 but went unsigned, has played in 19 games with the Roadrunners this season but is off to a slow start, notching just two goals and two assists. This performance comes on the heels of a 12-goal, 18-point effort in 2022-23.
With those numbers, it might be surprising that it’s not Jan Jenik getting recalled; he had just been sent down earlier this week. However, at this point, it makes more sense for Jenik to see some regular action in the minors instead of regularly getting shuffled back and forth while seeing sporadic playing time.
McGregor is playing on his first post-entry-level deal, a two-way agreement worth $775K at the NHL level. He’s set to once again be a restricted free agent this summer.
Alex Newhook To Miss 10-12 Weeks With High Ankle Sprain
Canadiens winger Alex Newhook left Thursday’s loss to Florida with a lower-body injury and it will keep him out for a while. The team announced (Twitter link) that Newhook will miss the next 10 to 12 weeks with a high ankle sprain.
The 22-year-old is in his first season with Montreal after being acquired from Colorado just before the draft in June for the 31st and 37th picks along with prospect blueliner Gianni Fairbrother. Despite taking a step back with the Avalanche last season, the Canadiens saw fit to give Newhook a four-year contract over the summer, one that carries a $2.9MM cap hit; he will still be a restricted free agent at its expiration.
Newhook has done well with his new team this season, taking advantage of the more prominent role he has in Montreal’s lineup. He is tied for the team lead in goals with Cole Caufield with seven while being tied with Sean Monahan for fourth in points with 13. He’s also averaging 16:34 per night after failing to log 14 minutes per contest in his two full seasons with Colorado.
Montreal already made their recall to replace Newhook on the roster yesterday when they brought up Mitchell Stephens from AHL Laval. For now, at least, Monahan is being shifted to the wing, allowing Stephens to center the fourth line.
Newhook joins a quickly growing list of players on Montreal’s injured reserve, one that now has more than $24MM on it, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). Carey Price‘s playing days are over which has him on LTIR. Up front, Rafael Harvey-Pinard will miss another month while Kirby Dach is done for the year. Meanwhile, on the back end, Chris Wideman has yet to play this season, David Savard has missed more than a month, while Arber Xhekaj and Jordan Harris recently landed on IR themselves. That said, TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie relays (Twitter links) that both Savard and Xhekaj skated today which means those two could be getting closer to a return.
Maple Leafs Recall Martin Jones On Emergency Basis
With Ilya Samsonov being unavailable for tonight’s game against Boston due to illness, the Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled goaltender Martin Jones from AHL Toronto on an emergency basis. He will back up Joseph Woll against the Bruins.
The 33-year-old played in 48 games last season with Seattle, posting a 2.99 GAA but his save percentage was just .887, a career low. As a result, interest was limited in Jones on the open market as he had to wait more than a month to find a contract, eventually signing a one-year, $875K deal with the Maple Leafs to serve as injury insurance. For his career, Jones has a 2.71 GAA and a .905 SV% in 444 NHL appearances over parts of ten seasons.
With a couple of teams looking for goalie depth at the end of training camp, it came as a bit of a surprise that Jones ultimately went through waivers unclaimed with Toronto assigning him to the Marlies soon after. Jones has been in a three-goalie rotation with them this season and has played in just five games so far, putting together a 3.37 GAA with a .870 SV%. It’s his first action at the AHL level since the 2013-14 campaign when he got into 22 games with AHL Manchester. With Samsonov likely just being day-to-day with this illness, it’s likely that Jones’ NHL stint will be a short-lived one.
Penguins Recall Joona Koppanen
The Penguins have added an extra forward to their roster in advance of tonight’s game against Philadelphia as they announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Joona Koppanen from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Pittsburgh had an open roster spot so no corresponding move needed to be made to add him to the active roster.
The 25-year-old spent six years in Boston’s system before becoming a Group Six unrestricted free agent back in July. He quickly found a new home with Pittsburgh inking him to a two-year contract on the opening day of free agency. That contract is a two-way agreement for this season before converting to a one-way pact for 2024-25.
Koppanen has five games at the NHL level under his belt, all coming with the Bruins last season where he had an assist, four penalty minutes, and a faceoff success rate of nearly 57% while playing just under 11 minutes per contest. He put up a career-best 35 points with AHL Providence last season but has struggled offensively this year, collecting just three goals and three assists so far through 18 games. Nevertheless, his ability to play center and take draws has made him a viable recall option although it remains to be seen if he’ll suit up against the Flyers tonight.
New Jersey Devils Re-Assign Samuel Laberge
Saturday: After making his NHL debut on Thursday where he played just 2:11, Laberge has been returned to Utica.
Wednesday: Just after signing him to a one-year entry-level contract on November 25th, the New Jersey Devils have recalled forward Samuel Laberge from their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets.
Laberge is at Devils practice this morning and could very well make his NHL debut with the club in the coming days, perhaps even in tomorrow’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Should Laberge get the chance to make his NHL debut, it would be a wonderful moment for a player who has been through so much on his path to such an opportunity.
Laberge’s pro hockey journey began in traditional fashion: after three seasons as a top-six power forward in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Océanic, including a campaign spent as their captain, Laberge signed an AHL deal with the Texas Stars.
A power forward capable of chipping in solid offensive numbers in junior, Laberge became more of a fourth-line grinder at the AHL level, and didn’t see his name on the scoresheet often. As a result, his standing and role in Texas slowly eroded as the team opted to give bigger opportunities to other players. He also suffered an injury that cost him valuable momentum and a full two months of his second campaign with the Stars.
After scoring just seven points in 2018-19, Laberge’s time in Texas ended. He had planned on heading to Manitoba on a professional tryout agreement with the Winnipeg Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Moose. But his plans had to grind to a halt, as his father had been diagnosed with cancer.
Laberge made the decision to pause the chase of his NHL dream and opted to stay closer to home rather than continue in camp with the Moose. Laberge later explained the decision to Devils team reporter Amanda Stein saying, “I wanted to spend the time with my father,” which led Laberge to forgo AHL opportunities. Laberge “wasn’t sure if [he] still wanted to play hockey,” but opted to remain in the game by playing in the semi-pro LNAH alongside taking on work in construction.
In 2020, Laberge re-joined the ranks of professional hockey, returning to the state of Texas to join the ECHL’s Allen Americans. He began to excel there, finishing with 17 goals and 42 points in 55 combined regular season and postseason games. Laberge then signed with the Devils’ ECHL affiliate, the Adirondack Thunder, for the 2021-22 campaign but quickly played his way back into the AHL by scoring 10 points in 12 ECHL games.
Laberge spent most of 2021-22 with the Utica Comets and last season spent the entire year in Utica, avoiding a single reassignment to the ECHL. So far this season, Laberge has scored three points in eight games for the Comets. He’s not a scoring forward like he was in junior, but the six-foot-two grinder can rack up hits, penalty minutes, and plays with a lot of energy.
Should he end up making his NHL debut, Laberge will likely do so in a limited fourth-line role. But just making it to this point, a point where he has an NHL contract in hand and is now on an NHL roster for the first time, is a remarkable achievement for a hard-working player who just a few years ago was playing semi-pro hockey and had one foot outside of the game.
Blue Jackets Assign Daniil Tarasov To AHL For Conditioning
The Blue Jackets have assigned netminder Daniil Tarasov to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters on a conditioning stint as he nears recovery from a knee injury, GM Jarmo Kekäläinen announced today.
To do this, the Blue Jackets first moved Tarasov from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve retroactive to the beginning of the season, then assigned him on an LTIR conditioning loan to Cleveland. This sub-type of conditioning stint means Tarasov can remain with Cleveland for up to six days or three games (with a potential two-game extension), after which the Blue Jackets can determine whether Tarasov can return to play. He remains on LTIR during the conditioning stint, although since the Blue Jackets had over $4MM in accrued cap space before placing him on LTIR, it’s irrelevant to the team’s financial picture.
Tarasov, 24, sustained a knee injury early in training camp and was initially listed as day-to-day. His recovery has drawn out much longer than expected, causing him to miss well over two months of action. The intriguing goalie prospect is no stranger to injury troubles, missing more than half of the 2021-22 season after undergoing right hip surgery.
The 2017 third-round pick began last season on the Blue Jackets roster but was eventually demoted due to poor play. He posted a 4-11-1 record, .892 SV%, 3.91 GAA, and conceded 6.4 goals above average in 16 starts, although he was far from the reason Columbus ranked 31st in goals against last season. Now in the second season of a three-year, $3.15MM contract, he has just 19 NHL starts to his name over the past three seasons, and his mediocre play in the minors since coming over from Russia must have the Blue Jackets questioning his long-term stance in the organization.
Assigning Tarasov on conditioning buys some time for Kekäläinen to make a choice regarding current backup netminder Spencer Martin, who’s given the Blue Jackets a solid .903 SV% and 3.20 GAA in nine appearances (seven starts) since they claimed him off waivers from the Canucks during the preseason. Whether the Blue Jackets opt to prioritize Tarasov over Martin remains to be seen, although it would make sense to go with the younger, higher-ceiling player, given the team sits far out of playoff contention. Martin is 28 years old, and his only season as a full-time backup, last year with Vancouver, was disastrous – posting a .871 SV% and conceding 27.5 goals above average in just 29 appearances.
The Blue Jackets could either trade Martin or look to pass him through waivers, although teams looking for goalie help may want to take a flyer on him, given his decent performance to open the campaign. Tarasov is no longer waiver-exempt and would need to be exposed in order to head to Cleveland full-time.
Pacific Notes: Kylington, Irwin, Barabanov, Rutta, Kunin
Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington skated with a small group today but head coach Ryan Huska cautioned (video link) that the blueliner is still a long way away from returning. Kylington signed a two-year, $5MM deal in August 2022 but has yet to play a game on that agreement, missing all of last season and the first seven weeks of this one for personal reasons. Huska noted that Kylington has skated on his own a bit so this wasn’t the first time he hit the ice but there is no timetable for when he might be able to return. Kylington is currently on LTIR but with Calgary recently moving Nikita Zadorov to Vancouver, they now have some flexibility to work with when the time comes to welcome him back to the active roster.
Elsewhere in the Pacific:
- Matt Irwin’s stint with Vancouver was short-lived as he has been returned to AHL Abbotsford, per the AHL’s Transactions Log. The 31-year-old signed with the Canucks in free agency but he wound up clearing waivers in training camp, resulting in Irwin seeing his first minor league action since the 2016-17 campaign. He has two assists in 13 games with Abbotsford so far.
- The Sharks could soon welcome back a pair of veterans as head coach David Quinn told reporters including Max Miller of The Hockey News (Twitter link) that defenseman Jan Rutta and winger Alexander Barabanov are very close to returning and should play at some point on their six-game road trip. Rutta has missed the last week and a half with an undisclosed injury and has struggled in his first season with San Jose, notching just one point in 19 games with a 37.7 CF%. Barabanov, meanwhile, has been out since late October with a finger injury. After putting up 47 points last season, he was held off the scoresheet in his first six games this year.
- The news on the injury front wasn’t all good for the Sharks, however. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News relays (Twitter link) that winger Luke Kunin is dealing with an upper-body injury, resulting in him missing tonight’s game against New Jersey. Kunin sits third on San Jose in goals this season with five, one behind co-leaders Fabian Zetterlund and Mike Hoffman.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vegas Golden Knights
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2023-24 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Vegas Golden Knights
Current Cap Hit: $89,210,531 (over the $83.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Kaedan Korczak (one year, $789.1K)
Potential Bonuses
Korczak: $82.5K
Korczak has bounced back and forth between Vegas and AHL Henderson this season and that will likely continue. He’s someone who could be a candidate for taking less than his qualifying offer in exchange for a one-way salary. Meanwhile, his bonuses are games played-based and while it’s unlikely he’ll top out, he should reach at least some of that amount which, thanks to them being in LTIR, will result in a bonus carryover penalty for next season.
Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level
F Michael Amadio ($762.5K, UFA)
F William Carrier ($1.4MM, UFA)
F Pavel Dorofeyev ($825K, RFA)
D Ben Hutton ($850K, UFA)
F Jonathan Marchessault ($5MM, UFA)
D Alec Martinez ($5.25MM, UFA)
D Daniil Miromanov ($762.5K, RFA)
F Chandler Stephenson ($2.75MM, UFA)
Marchessault had a strong showing last year with 57 points and followed that up with a Smythe-winning performance to help Vegas win the Stanley Cup. Accordingly, some expected that he’d be a strong candidate for an early extension but the veteran acknowledged that there weren’t talks in the summer as GM Kelly McCrimmon tends to wait before handing out new deals. That hesitation might be wise on the part of the Golden Knights as the 32-year-old is off to a slower start. He’s still in line to get a multi-year deal but it might wind up coming closer to this AAV in the end whereas in the summer, he likely could have pushed for $6MM or more on a long-term agreement.
Stephenson has been one of the better bargains around the NHL in recent years; his trade from Washington certainly sparked his offense, making him a quality two-way center. He’s also off to a quieter start this season but his recent track record will be good enough for some teams to view him as a second-line fit. Accordingly, he should reach (or even surpass) the $5MM mark on the open market. Carrier, one of the few remaining original expansion picks, hasn’t really moved up the depth chart over his now seven seasons in Vegas but remains an every-game fourth liner that brings plenty of physicality. The open market isn’t always great for players in that role but after his good playoff showing, he could be one of the exceptions and push for closer to $2MM.
Dorofeyev is in his first full season with Vegas although a good chunk of that has been in a reserve role. While he’s arbitration-eligible next summer, he also doesn’t have enough of an NHL track record to command much more than his $866K qualifying offer. As for Amadio, he has become one of the better recent waiver claims around the league, going from a fringe player to a full-time bottom-six piece who has produced at a pretty good rate after notching 16 goals last season. If he stays on the pace he’s on now for this year, he could easily double this AAV on the open market.
At the time Martinez’s deal was signed, the belief was that the final season could be a bit of a drag for the Golden Knights. Unfortunately, injuries struck in the first year and since then, his minutes have been closer to the 19-minute mark compared to the 21 or 22 minutes he has been at in the past. Effectively, he has gone from being a number two blueliner to a fourth option. Given his age (36), that’s not entirely surprising. His next deal, if there is one, is likely to be a one-year agreement closer to half this price point and could also contain some games played incentives.
Hutton is a serviceable seventh defender who can hold his own on the third pairing when needed. It’s hard to see him commanding much more than this on the open market while the Golden Knights need to keep this roster spot as close to the league minimum as possible. Miromanov lands on here due to his LTIR presence as he has yet to play this season. When healthy, he’ll likely return to AHL Henderson and is another candidate to sign for less than his qualifier in exchange for a one-way deal in the summer.
Signed Through 2024-25
D Nicolas Hague ($2.294MM, RFA)
G Adin Hill ($4.9MM, UFA)
F Brett Howden ($1.9MM, UFA)
F Keegan Kolesar ($1.4MM, UFA)
G Robin Lehner ($5MM, UFA)
D Brayden McNabb ($2.85MM, UFA)
D Brayden Pachal ($775K, RFA)
D Shea Theodore ($5.2MM, UFA)
G Logan Thompson ($766.7K, UFA)
Howden wound up accepting what amounts to a third bridge deal over the summer, settling after filing for arbitration. His production dropped last season and is at a similar clip this year although he plays an important role on the defensive side of things. That said, unless his offense comes around, he’ll be in tough to get much more than this in free agency, even as a 27-year-old at that time. Kolesar is in a similar situation as Carrier, just without quite as long of a track record. He’s a true fourth liner which limits his earnings upside but some team is going to look at him playing a regular role in the playoffs last year and use that to justify an above-market offer that could also push him into the $2MM range.
Theodore showed plenty of promise but was a little inconsistent early in his time with the Golden Knights, understandable given his age at the time. That has changed now as he has become an all-around all-situations player who can log big minutes on the top pairing. His offensive game has blossomed to the point where he could make a case for number one money if he gets to the open market. Not to the top-end level, mind you, but a long-term deal in the $9MM range could be doable. It might be tough for Vegas to match that price point, however, so if he wants to stay with them, Theodore might have to leave a bit of money on the table to do so.
McNabb has turned into a reliable second-pairing shutdown defender over his tenure with Vegas. He’s being paid at the level of a higher-end depth piece so this contract has certainly worked in their favor. The offense is limited which hurts to an extent but we’ve seen shutdown blueliners go well past $4MM in recent years. It seems reasonable to think McNabb will land there as well.
Hague was basically limited to a bridge deal in 2022 with Vegas not having enough cap room to entertain a longer-term agreement. However, his play has largely leveled out since then, slotting in as a fourth or fifth defender most nights. This is still a good value contract but perhaps a long-term next summer might cost less than it could have if Vegas had the ability to offer one last time out. He’ll be owed a $2.7MM qualifier and should land more than that with arbitration rights but his cap might be in the $4MM range if he stays at this level. Pachal is waiver-eligible this season which has helped keep him on the NHL roster. He’s in a depth role at the moment and until he can lock down a full-time spot on the third pairing, it’s hard to see him getting much more than this even with arbitration rights.
Lehner missed all of last season after undergoing hip surgery and remains on LTIR now. At this point, it’s reasonable to suggest that he might be on there for all of next season as well, especially based on what they did with Hill this summer.
Speaking of Hill, he certainly benefitted from his strong playoff performance, earning a deal that few would have seen coming just a few months earlier. It’s a deal they could afford thanks to Lehner’s LTIR. So far, he has been even better this season. It’s early but if he can maintain that level, he could push closer to the $6MM range on a long-term agreement. If he goes back to his level of play before his time in Vegas, he’s still on the upper end for platoon players so he could still come close to this contract.
As for Thompson, his first full season was quite good, earning an All-Star nod while finishing second on the All-Rookie team. Hill’s playoff run largely took away from that but Thompson remains an above-average NHL netminder with a cap hit below the league minimum, making him one of the top bargain deals in the league (and one I missed in a recent mailbag when discussing value deals). Even if he stays in a platoon through the end of this contract, he could also push past the $4MM mark, especially if multiple teams see him as a true starter. If that happens, $5MM or more becomes doable.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Paul Cotter ($775K, RFA)
F Jack Eichel ($10MM, UFA)
Vegas landed their long-coveted top center when they acquired Eichel and while no one can say that his contract is well below market value, they’re getting a decent return value-wise. Last season, he was close to a point-per-game player and is near that mark again this year. Accordingly, given the demand for centers, if he was on the open market today, he’d get pretty close to this, perhaps even a bit more. He’ll be 30 when he hits free agency and while there could be a cheaper year or two at the end on a max-term agreement, a small raise could still be doable. Cotter has become a quality fourth liner who can move up in a pinch. Three years for that at the minimum is a nice piece of business. If he can stay as a regular throughout the deal, he could have a shot at doubling this in free agency.
Metropolitan Notes: Chinakhov, Haula, Kuefler
Earlier this week, the agent for Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov indicated that his client was unhappy with his role and while the youngster hadn’t asked for a trade, he’d like to be moved. Speaking with reporters today including Brian Hedger of the Columbus Post-Dispatch, the 22-year-old tried to pour cold water on that notion to an extent. He stated his affinity for the team and market but that he simply just wants to play. Chinakhov started the season on IR and then was sent to the AHL briefly before being recalled early last month. Since then, he has been a regular most nights but is playing under 14 minutes per game, lately spending time on the fourth line even but has five points in 13 games. Clearly, the 2020 first-round pick is looking to have a bigger role; he will once again be a restricted free agent in the summer but will have arbitration rights at that time for the first time.
More from the Metropolitan:
- While the Devils didn’t get center Erik Haula back in their lineup tonight against San Jose, he might not be out much longer. Ryan Novozinsky of The Star-Ledger notes that the veteran will accompany the team on their upcoming four-game road trip. The 32-year-old suffered a lower-body injury last week against Buffalo. Haula is coming off back-to-back 40-plus-point seasons and has produced at a better pace than that this season with a dozen points in 18 games.
- The Islanders have activated winger Daylan Kuefler off season-opening IR and assigned him to AHL Bridgeport, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The 21-year-old is in his first professional season but wasn’t able to participate in training camp after suffering an injury in the WHL playoffs back in the spring. Last season, Kuefler had 61 points in 54 games with Kamloops while adding seven more in 13 playoff contests and four more in as many Memorial Cup appearances.
Kings Activate, Reassign Tobias Björnfot
The Kings have activated defenseman Tobias Björnfot off injured reserve and returned him to the AHL’s Ontario Reign on a conditioning loan, per a team announcement Friday evening.
Björnfot, the team’s 2019 first-round pick, sustained a scary injury in a November 21 game against the Kraken’s minor-league affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, which required him to be stretchered off the ice. Thankfully, the injury was neither life-threatening nor long-term, and he’s now ready to return to action.
The 22-year-old was already on a conditioning assignment with the Reign when he sustained the injury. Given he was put on injured reserve (but not long-term injured reserve) in the middle of it, the clock on his conditioning loan has now restarted, and he can remain with Ontario for 14 days before the Kings must reinstate him or put him on waivers for the purpose of assignment.
NHL teams will take advantage of conditioning loans to get oft-healthy scratched players some brief action in the minors without subjecting them to the waiver process. During this time, a player remains on the 23-man roster and counts against the salary cap but is eligible to play for a team’s minor-league affiliate.
The Kings initially sent Björnfot to the Reign for conditioning on November 16 after he had sat out of the lineup for over a month. After logging 10:12 in the team’s season opener against the Avalanche on October 11, head coach Todd McLellan healthy scratched Björnfot for a staggering 13 consecutive games before the team gave him some action in the minors.
Björnfot’s short stint in the minors was negligible – he was held off the scoresheet and posted a +1 rating in three games. He’ll now get some more minor-league action under his belt after spending most of last season with Ontario as well.
The Swede’s trajectory is not terribly promising at this point, at least for a first-round pick. While he’s shown the skills to be a serviceable NHL defender, it doesn’t seem likely he’ll ever elevate above a third-pairing role. The 6-foot, 200-pound defender has 117 NHL games to his name with the Kings over the last five seasons, notching one goal, 14 assists, and a -18 rating.