Edmonton Oilers Recall Vincent Desharnais
After playing Sunday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche shorthanded, the Edmonton Oilers earned themselves another emergency recall that is exempt from the cap. The catch is that it can only be a player with a cap hit of $850K or lower. Luckily, Vincent Desharnais falls right at that threshold and has been recalled today to give the team an extra defenseman.
It might seem like savvy cap management, getting Desharnais and Devin Shore up for no hit, but the Oilers have had to play multiple games shorthanded now, and have lost both by a small margin. The club is coming off three-straight extra-time losses and is now 4-1-5 in their last ten.
For an NHL team to get themselves into this kind of situation is rather surprising, given how much time they had to clear cap space while Kailer Yamamoto was injured. Should anyone else experience minor injuries, the team would likely be forced to play shorthanded again.
As the deadline approaches, the team will have to consider making a cap-clearing move of some sort if they want to improve the group in any fashion.
For now, the big, bruising Desharnais will get back into the lineup, after showing pretty well earlier this year. The 6’6″ defenseman recorded four assists and 17 penalty minutes in 12 games, registering an impressive +9 rating despite playing just 12 minutes a night.
Golden Knights Transfer Mark Stone To LTIR
At the beginning of the month, Golden Knights winger Mark Stone underwent back surgery with no timetable for his return. That was certainly a big blow as the captain has 38 points in 43 games so far this season. Now, the team has made the anticipated move as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve placed the veteran on LTIR. In doing so, Vegas now has an extra $9.5MM in spending room while their LTIR pool now eclipses $23.5MM with Shea Weber, Robin Lehner, and Nolan Patrick also on there. They’ve already used $750K of that with today’s emergency recall of goaltender Michael Hutchinson.
With the trade deadline now less than two weeks away, this gives Vegas a boost in what they’re allowed to spend; while many of the other contenders are in either dollar-in, dollar-out situations or have limited flexibility, the options that the Golden Knights now have are much more plentiful. Of course, going that route will come with some risks as well. If GM Kelly McCrimmon goes and spends that money, Stone likely won’t be able to come back for the rest of the season as Vegas would have to get back into compliance before they could activate him. The only way that could happen in that situation is if more players are out long-term and have high enough cap hits to offset Stone’s AAV.
Stone was actually in this same situation last year. He was dealing with a back injury and went on LTIR with Vegas tap-dancing around the LTIR limit all season long; he was only able to return when three regular veterans landed on there late in the year. It’s too early to say if that could be an option this time around as he remains out indefinitely. But in the meantime, the Golden Knights now have considerably more options heading into the trade deadline than they did a month ago when Stone was still in the lineup.
Trade Deadline Primer: New Jersey Devils
The trade deadline looms and is now less than two weeks away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the New Jersey Devils.
After a disappointing 2021-22 campaign that saw New Jersey finish just two points out of last in the Metropolitan Division and 37 points out of a playoff spot, expectations weren’t particularly high heading into 2022-23. Sure, GM Tom Fitzgerald made a few moves to shore up the roster but making up that type of deficit in a single season just doesn’t happen very often.
The Devils, however, will be one of the exceptions to that thought as they are in the mix for first in the division and are comfortably ahead in the Wild Card standings as well. They’ve become one of the top-scoring teams in the league while also being one of the stingier defensive ones which is a great combination to have. As a result, it’s safe to say that they will be adding to their group in the coming days.
Record
37-14-5, 2nd in the Metropolitan
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$2.93MM in LTIR relief, 0/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2023: NJ 1st, NJ 2nd, NJ 4th, NJ 5th, NJ 6th, NJ 7th
2024: NJ 1st, NJ 2nd, NJ 3rd, NJ 4th, NJ 5th, NJ 6th, NJ 7th
Trade Chips
Let’s start with an easy one. Andreas Johnsson has spent most of the season in the minors thanks to a $3.4MM AAV that is a bit on the high side. While he doesn’t have much in the way of standalone value – he has cleared waivers twice this season after all – he’s a strong candidate to be included as salary ballast if the Devils bring in a pricey upgrade.
While many teams will be focusing on rentals that will be eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer, there is an expectation that New Jersey is open to bringing in someone that could be part of their longer-term future. Those players often come with high price tags so young winger Alexander Holtz is sure to grab some attention. Things haven’t gone according to plan for him this season as he has seen limited action in the NHL and hasn’t been able to produce much. However, he’s only in the first year of his entry-level deal so the seventh-overall pick in 2020 still has plenty of runway left in his development. Moving Holtz would certainly sting but it stands to reason that if he goes, they’d be getting a critical win-now piece in return.
The Devils are facing a decision this summer when it comes to Mackenzie Blackwood. The netminder has shown flashes in the past but has struggled once again this season and has fallen behind Vitek Vanecek on the depth chart. His qualifying offer of $3.36MM might be too much for them to tender so it’s possible that he could be included as salary ballast as well to facilitate a trade. A team or two might want to take a closer look at him as well to see if he could be part of their plans beyond this season. The Devils have Nico Daws and Akira Schmid in the minors who both have NHL experience or they could turn around and add another veteran netminder if they were to part with Blackwood.
As for some other prospects that could go, defenseman Nikita Okhotyuk could draw some interest. The 22-year-old has seen NHL action in each of his first two seasons and plays with the type of physical edge that could have some teams wondering if he could fit on their third pairing down the road. Forward Graeme Clarke is having a breakout season with AHL Utica and at 21, his stock is on the rise. In a smaller move, he’d be a forward that teams will likely be calling about.
Other Potential Trade Chips: F Nolan Foote, F Nikola Pasic, F Tyce Thompson, D Reilly Walsh
Team Needs
1) Top-Six Winger: There’s a reason New Jersey has been linked to some prominent forwards, they’re looking to add an impact piece. Ondrej Palat has been injured for most of the season and has been inconsistent when he has played. Dawson Mercer, Tomas Tatar, and Yegor Sharangovich are holding their own in the top six but pushing more of them onto the third line would deepen their attack. There’s a definite spot to fill and it could go a long way toward making their forward group even more potent heading into the postseason while taking some pressure off Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier.
2) Defensive Depth: While it’s widely expected that the Devils will sign Luke Hughes once his college season is finished, the back end of their back end isn’t the deepest. Okhotyuk and Kevin Bahl have both seen action this season and the underlying numbers haven’t been great. Adding a veteran sixth defender would give them some insurance in case of injuries and if it’s a stay-at-home defender, it could also give them a chance to mix and match a little bit depending on their opponent. There’s a good chance that the bulk of their cap space will be used to add up front which should have Fitzgerald shopping in the lower-cost options in the coming days.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Vegas Golden Knights Recall Michael Hutchinson
An unfortunate theme in recent seasons for the Vegas Golden Knights has returned. As the Las Vegas Sun’s Danny Webster reports, goalie Adin Hill is banged up after the team’s last game Saturday, and the Golden Knights have recalled Michael Hutchinson from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights.
Hill played the entirety of Saturday’s win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Still, he didn’t practice today after taking a “bump” during the game, head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters today.
If Hill can’t dress for tomorrow’s road tilt against the Chicago Blackhawks, Vegas will momentarily be down to their third- and fourth-string netminders. Starter Logan Thompson is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained over a week ago. Hutchinson would back up Laurent Brossoit, who’s also yet to play an NHL game this season after slipping behind Thompson and Hill on the team’s depth chart.
None of that considers Robin Lehner, who remains on long-term injured reserve with a hip injury and won’t play this season.
Hutchinson, 32, has played just seven games for the Silver Knights this season after signing a two-way contract with Vegas as an unrestricted free agent last summer. He also appeared in two games for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup tournament. A veteran of 137 NHL games and 209 AHL games, Hutchinson has just one win and a .897 save percentage in Henderson this year.
St. Louis Blues Activate Marco Scandella, Scott Perunovich
The St. Louis Blues are getting two defensemen healthy for the first time this season. As announced by the team, Marco Scandella and Scott Perunovich have been activated from injured reserve, while Jake Neighbours replaces them as he lands on IR with an upper-body injury.
Scandella could make his season debut Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. The 32-year-old is in the third season of a four-year, $13.1MM contract but hasn’t played since undergoing hip surgery last September.
Perunovich remains one of the organization’s best prospects despite missing significant time over the past three seasons with various injuries. A talented offensive defender, Perunovich underwent surgery to repair a fractured left shoulder last October after he sustained the injury in a preseason game.
The 45th overall selection in the 2018 draft, Perunovich has been assigned to the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds as he continues to adjust to game action. He’s already recorded one assist in two games on a conditioning stint.
Neighbours officially lands on injured reserve after head coach Craig Berube told reporters yesterday he’d be out long-term. Per the team, Neighbours will be reevaluated in five weeks, meaning he could return with a handful of games left in the season.
It’s been an especially long road to recovery for Scandella, who’d been skating for nearly three months before returning to full health. As he enters the twilight of his NHL career, Scandella is coming off a 14-point effort in 70 games last season.
Perunovich could see NHL action near the tail end of the campaign to prime him for a full-time role in 2023-24. However, with so little professional experience under his belt over the past few seasons, some consistency in his ice time (and routine) at the AHL level could prove beneficial.
Injury Updates: Stalock, Holloway, Stone, Dowd
Alex Stalock is practicing with the Blackhawks again, and the team hopes he’ll join their upcoming four-game road trip. As reported by Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago, Stalock is returning from ocular dysfunction that has kept him out of the lineup since January 14th.
Although Stalock’s steady presence in the crease would be a boon for most teams in the Blackhawks position this season, it likely spells a return to the minors for Blackhawks’ goalie Jaxson Stauber. In his five starts since Stalock’s injury, Stauber has accrued four wins, including a 32-save win against the Maple Leafs on Sunday night. Stalock will now take over in net for the struggling Blackhawks with a 6-6 record with a .918 SV% this season.
Some other injury updates:
- The Edmonton Oilers will be missing young forward Dylan Holloway for “about a month” according to Jason Gregor of The Nation Network. After a very productive college hockey career, Holloway has failed to replicate his production in college to the professional level. Playing primarily in Edmonton’s bottom six, Holloway has scored nine points in 51 games this season. Due to the activation of Kailer Yamamoto off the injured reserve on February 17th, Holloway was sent down to Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. Although he’s now rostered in the minors, losing Holloway could be a significant hurdle in Edmonton’s upcoming trade deadline plans.
- Calgary Flames defenseman Michael Stone was seen today entering Scotiabank Saddledome in a boot with crutches. Noted by reporter Eric Francis of Sportsnet, Dennis Gilbert appears to be the likely replacement for Stone’s lost minutes.
- Nic Dowd is on the verge of returning to the Capitals lineup, according to Tarik El-Bashir for The Athletic. Dowd, who has been out of the lineup since the Capitals’ January 16th game against the New York Islanders, will be a welcomed return to the Capitals’ bottom six. Scoring 19 points in 44 games this year, Dowd’s performance this season has made him a valuable depth center for Washington.
Pittsburgh Penguins Activate Tristan Jarry
The Pittsburgh Penguins activated starting netminder Tristan Jarry from injured reserve, the team announced Monday afternoon. Goaltender Dustin Tokarski was re-assigned to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a corresponding transaction.
Jarry is expected to start tonight when the Penguins host the New York Islanders. It will be his first start since January 22, missing the following nine games with an upper-body injury.
Pittsburgh’s been their best with Jarry in goal, and his return couldn’t come at a more important time in the season. The Penguins are surrounded by a tight pool of teams looking to secure Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference, and the team’s 4-4-2 record in their past ten games can be attributed in part to poor goaltending.
The 27-year-old Jarry has been one of the better netminders in the league this season, boasting a .921 save percentage and a 16-5-5 record. Pittsburgh is below .500 with backups Casey DeSmith and Tokarski in the net.
Tokarski returns to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he has a sparkling .920 save percentage in 21 appearances.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Lockwood, Jarry
The NHL released its Three Stars of last week, with Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle taking home top spot. The budding superstar had ten points in four games, including two game-winning goals, reaching a new career-high in scoring with 59 points on the season. Stutzle, 21, is way out in front of the 2020 draft class in terms of scoring, 56 points ahead of second-place Lucas Raymond. While there’s still time for others to catch up, the Senators forward is showing why he was selected so high.
Second and third went to Nathan MacKinnon and Dylan Larkin, respectively, who each had their own excellent weeks. The Colorado Avalanche star scored nine points in four games to take him to 67 on the year (in just 44 games), and the Detroit Red Wings captain put up eight to bring him to 56 this season. With so much speculation surrounding Larkin’s future, his game certainly hasn’t deteriorated. In his last 17 games he has 23 points, and he’s currently riding a seven-game point streak.
- After several weeks on the sidelines, Vancouver Canucks forward William Lockwood has been activated from injured reserve and loaned to the AHL. He last appeared in a game on January 24, leaving after just six minutes of ice time due to the concussion protocol. The 24-year-old forward has just one assist in 13 games for the Canucks this season and is still looking for his first NHL goal. He’ll likely see a call-up once he’s back in game shape.
- Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry will officially be back in action tonight, giving the team a huge boost for a critical matchup. When healthy, Jarry has been excellent this season, matching a career-high .921 save percentage through 27 appearances. His play will likely determine the outcome for the Penguins in the Eastern Conference playoff race, as so many teams are still within striking distance of the wild card positions.
Mathew Barzal Out Week-To-Week With Lower-Body Injury
11:40am: The Islanders have clarified, explaining to reporters, including Kevin Kurz of The Athletic, that Barzal is “week-to-week” and is expected to return at some point this season.
10:30am: The New York Islanders will be without one of their most dangerous offensive players, as Mathew Barzal is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. The star forward suffered it over the weekend against the Boston Bruins, playing just three shifts before leaving the game.
New York would end up losing badly without him, and now may have to find a way to stay in the race without him for a long stretch. Indefinitely, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean Barzal will be out long-term but is usually the terminology used when a player has been ruled out but is still being evaluated for potential surgery. Hopefully, in this case that won’t be required, and the Islanders will have the smooth-skating forward back in the lineup before long. If not, their offense is going to take a significant hit.
Barzal, 25, has 51 points in 58 games this season and is part of a trio with Brock Nelson and Anders Lee that drives almost all of the Islanders forward offensive production. Jean-Gabriel Pageau (who is also injured) is the next highest-scoring forward with 29 points in 56 games, while Zach Parise is the only other forward with more than ten goals.
Luckily, the Islanders did just add Bo Horvat, who will likely be given even more responsibility than he already has. Horvat is averaging more than 21 minutes a night with the Islanders so far, and has three goals and four points in seven games since coming over from the Vancouver Canucks. If Barzal misses significant time, he will need to continue his outstanding season to help New York reach the playoffs.
Dallas Stars Recall Fredrik Karlstrom, Fredrik Olofsson
Feb 20: Round and round we go. Karlstrom and Olofsson have been recalled once again.
Feb 19: The Dallas Stars have announced that forwards Fredrik Karlstrom and Fredrik Olofsson have been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars.
Karlstrom was originally recalled on February 16th, and played in two games for the Stars, while Olofsson was recalled yesterday to play in that day’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The pair flanked Stars fourth-line center Radek Faksa at the bottom of head coach Peter DeBoer’s lineup last night, and they each played limited minutes in their time on the Stars’ roster. After the Stars lost 4-1 to one of the NHL’s worst teams, it seems the Stars are shuffling their roster in order to get a different look in their bottom six.
Karlstrom, 25, heads back to AHL Texas where he’s had a solid sophomore season. After scoring 16 goals and 29 points last year, the 2016 third-round pick has picked up right where he left off, and has scored eight goals and 21 points in 40 games this year.
Karlstrom turned pro in 2021-22 after a successful final SHL season with the Vaxjo Lakers, where he scored 25 points in 51 games and helped his team capture the SHL championship. He’ll now head back to Texas to possibly step back into a top-six role, a role he’s occupied at times this season.
As for Olofsson, this reassignment ends a short one-day stay on the Stars’ roster. Olofsson already has 14 games played for Dallas this season and is averaging just under ten minutes of ice time per game in that sample size.
The former University of Nebraska-Omaha star is in his first season as a pro in North America, fresh off of an impressive two-year run with IK Oskarshamn of the SHL.
While he’s unlikely to be thrilled to have spent such a short time in the NHL, the 26-year-old has firmly established himself as a preferred call-up option for the Stars, and will likely find his way back onto their roster once again before the season concludes.