Vinnie Hinostroza Clears Waivers
Saturday: Hinostroza has cleared waivers, Friedman reports.
Friday: The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed Vinnie Hinostroza on waivers today, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The move would pave the way for Hinostroza to be re-assigned to the Penguins’ AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Hinostroza is a pending unrestricted free agent with a $775k cap hit.
It appears that the recent news of Noel Acciari and Rickard Rakell nearing returns from injured reserve has shaken Hinostroza’s grip on a roster spot. Hinostroza’s play so far this season has done him no favors either, though. The 29-year-old was given the chance to make an impact by head coach Mike Sullivan, even getting looks in scoring-line roles. He only delivered one goal and three points this season, which is a far cry in terms of scoring pace from his career-high of 16 goals and 39 points.
A genuinely skilled forward, Hinostroza has struggled to be consistently effective in the NHL, a league with relentless physicality and unmatched pace. A former AHL All-Star, Hinostroza has become more of a depth forward who can fill a scoring role in a pinch rather than someone who can be truly relied upon to carry any sort of offensive burden over an extended period. The Penguins hoped he might provide some flair to their revamped bottom six, but he seems to have not been a lasting fit.
With the waiver placement today, Hinostroza appears ticketed for an AHL assignment. He actually began the year in the AHL, and scored four points in five games. Should he end up clearing and sent to Wilkes-Barre Scranton, the AHL’s Penguins would be receiving a significant offensive reinforcement.
USA Hockey Announces Roster For Upcoming World Juniors
With the start of the World Juniors now just a week and a half away, rosters for the event are starting to be finalized. The latest to do so is Team USA with USA Hockey announcing (Twitter link) their full squad for the tourney. The team lines up as follows with their NHL affiliation in parentheses.
Goalies
Trey Augustine (DET)
Jacob Fowler (MTL)
Sam Hillebrandt
Defense
Zeev Buium
Seamus Casey (NJ)
Ryan Chesley (WSH)
Drew Fortescue (NYR)
Lane Hutson (MTL)
Aram Minnetian (DAL)
Eric Pohlkamp (SJ)
Sam Rinzel (CHI)
Forwards
Gavin Brindley (CBJ)
Quinn Finley (NYI)
Cutter Gauthier (PHI)
Gavin Hayes (CHI)
Isaac Howard (TB)
Ryan Leonard (WSH)
Rutger McGroarty (WPG)
Oliver Moore (CHI)
Frank Nazar (CHI)
Danny Nelson (NYI)
Gabriel Perreault (NYR)
Will Smith (SJ)
Jimmy Snuggerud (STL)
Casey Terrance (ANA)
As expected, it’s a roster that has many NHL prospects on it, including two of the top eight selections from the draft back in June. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are well-represented in this group with four prospects making the cut.
Corey Pronman of The Athletic points out (Twitter link) that there are still two cuts that will need to be made before the roster is formally registered for the tournament. With 14 forwards and eight blueliners on the roster, it stands to reason that one will be trimmed from each of those groups. However, those cuts will serve as standby injury replacements so they will still make the trek to Sweden for the event, which gets underway in Gothenburg, Sweden on December 26th.
Maple Leafs To Activate Timothy Liljegren Off LTIR
The Maple Leafs will welcome back an important part of their back end tonight against Pittsburgh as defenseman Timothy Liljegren told reporters including David Alter of The Hockey News (Twitter link) that he’s ready to suit up, meaning Toronto will be activating him off LTIR.
The 24-year-old has missed the last six weeks with a lower-body injury sustained against Boston in early November. Before being injured, he was averaging over 19 minutes a night, the highest ATOI of his young career while he was seeing a fair bit of action in Toronto’s top four.
Offensively, he has been limited to just one assist but he also has 18 blocked shots and was averaging close to two minutes per night on the penalty kill before the injury. The Maple Leafs will certainly be happy to have a more defensive-oriented presence in their lineup. Postmedia’s Lance Hornby adds (Twitter link) that Liljegren could be partnered with Morgan Rielly tonight on the top pairing so he’ll be put into a big role quickly. That said, with T.J. Brodie (illness) listed as questionable, those pairings could be tweaked.
In order for Toronto to officially activate Liljegren off LTIR, they will first need to open up the cap space to do so. Today’s recall of Pontus Holmberg means they will be over the cap if they try to activate Liljegren.
They do have some options to get cap-compliant though. The easiest one is to send a defenseman down (one of Simon Benoit, Maxime Lajoie, or William Lagesson) which would get them just enough room. If Ryan Reaves is going to be out for more than ten games and 24 days, he could be placed on LTIR which would give them more than enough room to activate Liljegren. Alternatively, they could transfer Mark Giordano to LTIR retroactively; he’d be eligible to return on December 23rd in that scenario. However, he is skating and if they feel he’s ready to return before then, that might not be the best route to go. Either way, a roster move will be coming in order to get Liljegren in the lineup tonight.
Panthers Recall Will Lockwood
After sending defenseman Uvis Balinskis down yesterday, the Panthers didn’t waste any time filling their open roster spot. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger William Lockwood from AHL Charlotte.
The 25-year-old is in his first season after splitting last year between the Canucks and Rangers, primarily suiting up with their AHL affiliates. He became a Group Six unrestricted free agent and inked a two-year, two-way deal with the Panthers on the second day of free agency.
Lockwood has split the season between Florida and Charlotte. He has gotten into seven games with the Panthers and has been held pointless while logging just 7:27 per night on the fourth line. Meanwhile, with the Checkers, Lockwood has fared much better, putting up three goals and four assists in 14 games with them so far.
Lockwood is three NHL games away from needing to pass through waivers again but with the Panthers now carrying 14 forwards on their active roster, playing time may be difficult to come by in the short term. Anton Lundell missed Florida’s last game due to illness but it’s not supposed to keep him out for long so Lockwood is likely to serve as a spare forward for the time being.
Flames Notes: Tanev, DeSimone, Dube
There has certainly been no shortage of trade speculation surrounding Flames defenseman Chris Tanev. A pending unrestricted free agent, he’s the type of shutdown blueliner that many teams would covet. However, as Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic notes (subscription link), Calgary’s preference is still believed to be to sign him to an extension, preferably a two-year agreement. The soon-to-be 34-year-old is currently injured with no timetable yet for a return which will further stall any possible trade discussions. Tanev has a $4.5MM AAV and it will likely take something close to that to get him to put pen to paper on an early extension if he decides he’d like to stay with the Flames.
More from Calgary:
- In Calgary’s last game, defenseman Nick DeSimone played in his tenth game, meaning he will now have to pass through waivers to return to the minors. With plenty of trade speculation surrounding Tanev and Noah Hanifin, it’s fair to wonder if GM Craig Conroy may be hesitant to risk losing DeSimone for free if he tries to send him back down. The 29-year-old has four assists in those ten appearances while logging a little under 13 minutes a night.
- One of the bigger questions surrounding the Flames revolves around winger Dillon Dube, opines Postmedia’s Danny Austin. After spending a lot of last season in a top-six role where he set career highs offensively with 18 goals and 45 points, the 25-year-old has struggled mightily this season, notching just three goals and four helpers thus far in 29 games. Notably, his ice time has dipped below the ten-minute mark in four of the last five games. Dube is a pending restricted free agent this coming summer, owed a $2.4MM qualifying offer with arbitration eligibility. If things don’t pick up for him in the coming weeks, his name could be in trade speculation leading up to the trade deadline.
Maple Leafs Recall Pontus Holmberg
With Ryan Reaves leaving Thursday’s game against Columbus with an injury that’s expected to keep him “out for a while” according to head coach Sheldon Keefe, the Maple Leafs had an opening up front to fill. They’ve now filled that spot as the team announced (Twitter link) that center Pontus Holmberg has been recalled from AHL Toronto.
The 24-year-old impressed in a half-season stint in 2022-23, earning him a two-year, one-way contract that carries an AAV of $800K. It also led to expectations that he’d be an NHL regular this season. That hasn’t been the case, however, as Toronto is taking advantage of his waiver exemption and has shuffled him back and forth so far.
Holmberg has played in seven games with the big club this season and has been held off the scoresheet while averaging just under nine minutes a night. However, he has been quite productive with the Marlies, tallying six goals and four assists in 11 games at the AHL level. For now, he’s likely to serve as the 13th forward assuming Matthew Knies is able to return from his illness tonight against Pittsburgh.
Evening Notes: Balinskis, Oettinger, Sherwood, Studenic
Earlier this evening, the Florida Panthers announced they had sent down defenseman Uvis Balinskis to their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. Balinskis was brought to the Panthers organization this past offseason, signing a one-year, $870K contract as an international free agent.
Spending last season with Bílí Tygři Liberec in Czechia, Balinskis impressed greatly on the blue line, as the Latvian-born defenseman scored 11 goals and 35 points in 50 games. Unfortunately, his transition to hockey in North America has not gone smoothly, as he has only scored one goal and one assist in 18 games, averaging under 14 minutes of ice time per night.
Now that defenseman Josh Mahura has recovered from a lower-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for a few weeks, Florida didn’t have the need nor the space to keep eight defensemen on the roster. Balinskis will now join a Checkers team with solid defensive depth but is currently seventh in a strong Atlantic Division with a 12-10-1-0 record.
Other notes:
- In tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators, goaltender for the Dallas Stars, Jake Oettinger, abruptly left the ice in the first period, and will not return to action with a lower-body injury, per a team announcement. In a down year compared to his first three seasons in the NHL, Oettinger sports an 11-7-2 record in 20 games played, carrying a .904 SV% and a 2.85 GAA. Nevertheless, if Oettinger is expected to miss any sort of time with this injury, the Stars’ internal goaltending options are not close to replicating the output of Oettinger, even with his numbers being down.
- The Nashville Predators announced that Kiefer Sherwood is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and will not play tonight in the team’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. After spending much of last season with the Predator’s AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, Sherwood has earned himself a full-time spot on Nashville’s roster, scoring five goals and 11 points in 29 games.
- Capping off a flurry of roster moves from the organization today, the Seattle Kraken have sent down forward Marian Studenic to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Although providing little to no production at the NHL level, Studenic has been one of the better AHL scorers over the last few seasons. Last season, rostered on the Texas Stars, Studenic scored 21 goals and 48 points in 67 games. Now on the Firebirds, Studenic has once again gotten off to a solid start, scoring seven goals and 12 points in his first 16 games.
Pacific Notes: Kraken, Sturm, Carpenter
In a series of interesting roster moves, the Seattle Kraken announced they have recalled forward Shane Wright from their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds while sending down forward Tye Kartye in the same transaction. Furthermore, the team announced they had placed Jaden Schwartz on long-term injured reserve retroactive to November 28th.
The move comes as a bit of a surprise given that amid his rookie season, Kartye is tied for 10th on the team in scoring, and tied for fifth in goals. In his own right, Wright is off to a solid start this season in Coachella Valley, scoring nine goals and 16 points in 18 games, sitting fourth on the team in scoring.
However, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times gave some context to the transaction, indicating that it was made for “salary cap management” purposes, and would make more sense by the end of the weekend. It didn’t take long for the transaction to make sense, as the Kraken traded for Tomas Tatar only a few hours later.
Other notes:
- Injured in their most recent game against the Winnipeg Jets, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports that San Jose Sharks’ forward, Nico Sturm, will not travel with the team for their upcoming road trip. Thankfully, the road trip only consists of two games, before the Sharks return to the Bay Area next Tuesday. In 26 games so far this season, Sturm has recorded two goals and four points, tied for 17th on the team in scoring.
- In similar news to Sturm, Peng also reported that forward Ryan Carpenter would not be making the road trip with the team, as well. Carpenter has been out of the line since the team’s game on December 3rd, suffering from an undisclosed injury. Providing a bit of depth scoring for the team this season, Carpenter has recorded one goal and five points in 18 games, averaging just under 12 minutes of ice time per game.
Seattle Kraken Acquire Tomas Tatar
Per a team announcement, the Seattle Kraken have acquired forward Tomas Tatar from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a fifth-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft. After signing with the Avalanche on a one-year, $1.5MM contract this past summer, Tatar will end his tenure with Colorado after having only played 27 games.
In what will now become a very brief experiment with the Avalanche, Tatar struggled to fit into the team system in Colorado, only scoring one goal and nine points overall. Only averaging a touch over 11 minutes of ice time per night, it was Tatar’s lowest usage rate since his sophomore campaign back in the 2012-13 NHL season.
With a relatively cheap contract, and brought in late in the summer to serve as increased offensive depth for the Avalanche, Tatar became an easy contract to move out, allowing Colorado to replenish a separate fifth-round selection, after having moved out their own two years ago in a trade for Andrew Cogliano.
Moving forward, the Avalanche will likely utilize either Ross Colton or Miles Wood in their top six, replacing Tatar on the wing. Also brought in as offensive depth over the offseason, Colton and Wood have translated much better to the system in Colorado, outperforming Tatar in almost every metric.
Similar to the reasoning that brought him to Colorado in the first place, the Kraken are dealing with their own injuries up front, as both Andre Burakovsky and Jaden Schwartz find themselves on the team’s injured reserve and long-term injured reserve, respectively. Upon the eventual return of both forwards, Tatar should still have a relatively safe spot in the Kraken’s middle six forward group.
Being a change of scenery candidate, Tatar can only benefit from this move to the West Coast, as he is in the midst of one of the worst seasons of his 13-year career. Sporting career lows in shooting percentage, points per game, and CorsiFor%, Tatar can only improve his game from here on out.
Unfortunately, with both the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers passing them in the standings over the last few weeks, Seattle has an uphill climb to return to the playoffs this season. Being only one of three teams to pass the 30-game mark up to this point, the Kraken are sporting a 10-14-7 record, Seattle sits two points back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with two more games played.
New York Rangers Recall Adam Edstrom
With defenseman K’Andre Miller set to miss a second straight game due to personal reasons, the New York Rangers have opted to add more depth to their forward core, recalling Adam Edstrom from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Edstrom was originally a sixth-round selection of the Rangers, going 161st overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. Not coming to North America until late last season, Edstrom had been playing for Rögle BK of the SHL, scoring 23 goals and 47 points over 174 games during his professional career overseas.
This season in Hartford, Edstrom has played in 21 total games, scoring seven goals and nine points in the process. Making his way primarily from his goal-scoring ability, Edstrom’s true claim to fame is his size. Standing at 6’8″, Edstrom is only one inch shorter than former defenseman, Zdeno Chara, making him tied for the tallest player on an NHL roster next to defenseman Tyler Myers.
Edstrom does not use his frame in the same manner as Chara or Myers but remains an intimidating player to line up against, nonetheless. In their game tonight against the Anaheim Ducks, there has been no confirmation if Edstrom will dress for the game, as the Rangers currently have 13 forwards on the roster aside from Edstrom.