Trade Deadline Primer: Boston Bruins
With the All-Star break now upon us, the trade deadline looms large and is just over a month away. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Boston Bruins.
Unlike the two prior teams covered in this series, the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks, the Boston Bruins’ goal is not to sink as far down in the standings as possible to ensure the best possible chance at landing Connor Bedard. In fact, the Bruins’ play so far this season makes such a plan at this point almost impossible.
The Bruins have been the best team in hockey so far this season, and it’s not really up for debate. The team is 39-7-2 with 83 points.
Last season, the Washington Capitals made the playoffs out of the Eastern Conference. They won 44 games.
The Bruins have already won 39.
This is a team looking to win a Stanley Cup this season, a year that could potentially be the final campaign for core pieces such as Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
But where the trade deadline is concerned, the team’s success is a double-edged sword. On one hand, the Bruins players have absolutely earned some reinforcements. Should GM Don Sweeney remain entirely passive during the trade frenzy, that could send a poor message to the Bruins’ players, that their immense efforts this season were not rewarded with some additions to their lineup. But on the other hand, it would be reasonable for Boston to be weary of making changes to a lineup formula that has worked so well.
That leaves the team in an intriguing position heading into trade season. There are definitely ways for Boston to bolster its already formidable lineup, and there are quite a few high-end players who would fit very well in coach Jim Montgomery‘s lineup. But with how well the team has done as currently constructed, the team’s trade deadline strategy may not be as simple as just trying to add the most talented player available.
Record
39-7-2, 1st in Atlantic
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$3.25MM today, $3.25MM in deadline space, 0/3 retention slots used, 47/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2023: BOS 1st, BOS 3rd, BOS 4th, BOS 5th, BOS 6th, BOS 7th, LAK 7th
2024: BOS 1st, BOS 3rd, BOS 4th, BOS 5th, BOS 6th
Trade Chips
This is where things get a bit more complicated. The Bruins’ success this season makes it unlikely that they would entertain removing a roster player from their lineup as part of a trade. It’s not impossible, of course, but subtracting from the current lineup in order to add outside talent would be a risk.
But on the other hand, it may be a risk the Bruins are forced to take. Outside of players currently on their roster, the Bruins have one of the thinner pools of assets to deal from in the entire NHL. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler recently ranked the Bruins’ prospect pool as the 30th-best in the NHL, and the team is missing both this year and next year’s second-round picks. (subscription link)
So if the Bruins want to go all-in on this season and have the best chance at putting together a winning offer for a top-end player, their best trade chip is likely 2021 first-round pick Fabian Lysell. Lysell, 20, has played this season for the Providence Bruins, and scored decently well. He has 22 points in 27 games, and has the potential to be a top-six forward in the NHL.
Like any prospect, there are question marks regarding Lysell’s future and the eventual NHL career he’ll end up having. But he’s an undoubtedly talented offensive threat and clearly the Bruins’ top prospect. If the team is engaged on a player such as Timo Meier, the Bruins may not be able to compete with the offers other clubs can make without including Lysell.
Other trade chips from the team’s prospect pool include Ohio State defenseman Mason Lohrei, undrafted winger Georgii Merkulov, and OHLer Matthew Poitras, though it’s unlikely anyone in that trio would be able to center a trade offer the way Lysell could.
Should the Bruins be forced to deal from their NHL roster in order to get a trade over the line, potential names they could deal include speedy winger Jakub Lauko, whose path to success on the team’s left side seems cloudy, or Trent Frederic, who is in the midst of a breakout year offensively but will be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent in the summer.
Other potential trade chips: 2023 first-round pick, 2024 first-round pick, Jakub Zboril, Mike Reilly, John Beecher
Team Needs
1) Another high-end offensive weapon: It’s difficult to really pick any major “needs” on the Bruins’ roster, as the team is extremely well-rounded. When the roster is at full health, 2018 Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall is the Bruins’ third-line left winger. That’s the kind of depth and roster balance most teams can only dream of. But if there’s one thing the team could prioritize going into the deadline, it’s adding another high-end piece to really solidify their spot at the top of the NHL. Sweeney hasn’t been shy about adding big-name players in the past, whether it’s in trades for players such as Hall, Hampus Lindholm, or Rick Nash. If the Bruins are committed to going all-in on this year’s team, they could shop at the top of the market once again.
2) Left-Shot Defenseman: At the current moment, the Bruins have Reilly, an NHL veteran, in the AHL due to not only his cap hit but also the immense amount of depth the team has on the left side of their defense. But if the Bruins want to add major cap dollars to their roster, trading Reilly could be one of the more viable ways for the team to get that done. In that case, adding another left-shot defenseman could end up being a priority. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman wrote on his 32 thoughts column that the Bruins are “believed to be in the left-defense market,” citing names such as Jakob Chychrun and Vladislav Gavrikov as possibilities.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
PHR Mailbag: Blues, Flyers, Rangers, Penguins, Avalanche, Predators, NHLPA
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include the future of Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher, the challenges the Penguins will face if they try to rebuild, the trade deadline challenge for the Avalanche, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check for it in next weekend’s mailbag. Unless you asked about Dylan Larkin. He’ll be the focus of a bonus mailbag column tomorrow.
Gmm8811: It pains me to say this but I fear the Blues are in need of a major overhaul from top to bottom. Their fiscal situation isn’t sustainable. They need to start stockpiling draft picks. Their reserve list is ok but pretty bare of any significant talent. Tarasenko and O’Reilly could bring some nice draft picks. Parayko has become the fans whipping boy…I can see him being moved. Maybe Krug goes too. Binnington overpaid for the return the team gets from him. Defense needs to get tougher and bottom six forwards need to improve. This team is not set up for the future at all in my opinion.
I would be surprised to see anywhere this level of an overhaul coming from St. Louis in the coming weeks before the deadline. Yes, some changes will be coming, largely because of their cap situation when $10.65MM gets added to their books with the new deals for Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas kick in and that won’t allow them to re-sign or replace both Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly. Barring a drastic improvement over the next few weeks, the pending UFAs could be traded but I doubt we’ll see much more than moving out their rentals by March 3rd.
I do think there’s a desire for the back end to be tougher but this is an easier-said-than-done scenario. Colton Parayko’s injury history hurts his value, as does the fact he’s signed until 2030. There’s some concern that his contract won’t age well. Given his importance on their current back end, I don’t think they want to sell low on him. Torey Krug has four years left at $6.5MM as well. Look at what happened with Shayne Gostisbehere a couple of years ago with Philadelphia having to pay to get the last two years of his deal off their books. I don’t think that’s a route they want to take. Jordan Binnington is in a similar situation, four years left at $6MM is a negative-value deal right now. In the short term, creating a spot for Tyler Tucker to play regularly on the third pairing will give them a bit more physicality while I wouldn’t hold your breath about big improvements coming to the bottom six for cap reasons.
There’s a changing of the guard underway with Kyrou and Thomas becoming the new centerpieces of their forward group. I think that change will continue but it will be gradual. Once some of these longer-term contracts start to get shorter (think a couple of years from now) and become easier to move, that’s when I think we’ll start to see some more of the veteran core changing up.
DonnieBaseBallHOFer: How surprising is it that Fletcher still with the Flyers? If he is allowed to make moves at the deadline, doesn’t that pretty well mean he stays even into next season? Not fair to a potential new GM to let Fletch make any moves now…is Briere ready to take the next step? If so, do they risk losing him to another team by sticking with Fletch now?
I’m not that surprised that Chuck Fletcher is still at the helm for Philadelphia. This season hasn’t been pretty but injuries certainly haven’t helped things which could be a factor. It’s also year one of a coaching change. To me, the fact the team allowed Fletcher to give John Tortorella a four-year, $16MM contract means they still had a lot of faith in him at that time. They’re six points out of a playoff spot despite not having Sean Couturier, Ryan Ellis, and Cam Atkinson all season long. I don’t think there’s a big appetite internally to change things as a result. I wouldn’t say Fletcher has a long leash but I don’t think there will be any restrictions on him at the deadline.
As for Daniel Briere, I don’t think the Flyers are at much risk in terms of losing him. Yes, he was in the mix for Montreal’s job last season but they’re a team that places high importance on speaking French which doesn’t give them a deep pool to choose from. Since then, I don’t think Briere has been a serious candidate for the few openings that have come up.
He’s still pretty inexperienced in the NHL in terms of management. He has been a consultant for a year and a half and a special assistant for a year and a half. Sure, some experience building up ECHL Maine from the ground helps but is he a little too green to take over a team? I think other organizations think he is. Give it a year or two, then he should come up in speculation a bit more. Who knows, perhaps at that time, Fletcher moves up to Team President and Briere takes over as GM, something we’ve seen other organizations do? I’m sure that’s not your favorite scenario but unless this team completely nosedives next season, I wouldn’t be shocked if it happened.
mhaftman7: The Flyers DESPERATELY need to go all in on a rebuild. Is Provorov to the Kings for a package including Byfield realistic? Could Hayes, JVR, Konecny, and Ristolainen all be moved?
On paper, I like the fit of your trade idea. Ivan Provorov would certainly fill a need in Los Angeles and while his value is down, so too is Quinton Byfield’s so it’d be an interesting buy-low move on both sides assuming the other pieces are in place to make the money work (and we’d be talking about needing to match his $6.75MM contract, more or less). Is it realistic right now? I’m not so sure. I think the PR element from what happened last month during Philadelphia’s Pride Night is going to come into play in trade talks. On top of that, these types of trades are likelier to happen at the draft or in the summer than they are now.
As for the need to do a rebuild, I don’t disagree. At best, this is a team that’s spinning its wheels. But a healthy Couturier and Atkinson (I’ll leave Ellis out as who knows if he’ll play again) probably get this team a few more points in the standings and then they’d be right in the Wild Card battle. I don’t see a big blow-it-up scenario happening as a result.
But let’s look at your trade options. Kevin Hayes has too pricey of a contract to move. Same for Rasmus Ristolainen. At best, they’re summer swaps for other expensive deals but I expect them to stay put. I think James van Riemsdyk goes with 50% retention for a draft pick. Travis Konecny though, that one’s tricky. If they intend to go for the playoffs next season, he stays. If they actually consider taking a step back though, this is a sell-high situation for someone in the prime of his career with two years left after this on what’s looking like a team-friendly $5.5MM. I wouldn’t put him in the likely-to-be-dealt category but in the back of my head, he’s an interesting dark horse candidate.
NYRFan 2: The Rangers NEED to get more ❤️ not prettier. Any chance they package some younger talent like Hajek, Robertson, Jones, or Blais and a pick or so for players like Jeannot (who is struggling) and Xhekaj who plays a game Jeff Gorton hates? Instead of multiple firsts and talent for a rental when I don’t think we are there yet. Need guys to hammer pucks and bodies!
Let’s look at your trade chips first. Libor Hajek’s trade value right now is next to non-existent. He can’t go to the minors and hasn’t played well enough to stay in the lineup which has limited him to just ten games. He’s a throw-in piece at this point. So is Sammy Blais who is basically salary ballast. Matthew Robertson still has some value but he’s not a headliner in a move for an impact player. Zachary Jones could be though. I think his value is down a bit this year but there will be rebuilding teams that look at him and think there’s a spot on the depth chart. Jones, a pick, and one of the throw-ins is a package that could be of some interest to fill a need in the coming weeks.
That said, I don’t think Nashville has any interest in selling low on Tanner Jeannot and that trade combo as a result would certainly be selling low. I could see a scenario where Montreal considers moving Arber Xhekaj as they have a lot of left-side depth in their defenseman pipeline but that would be to fill another organizational need, not replacing him with another left-side defender in Jones.
Maybe it’s just me but I don’t look at New York’s back end and think that they need more toughness. Adam Fox is a finesse player, sure, but there isn’t anyone else that I’d put in that category. (Ryan Lindgren isn’t the most physical but he’s capable of playing a hard game.) I think they need an 18-minute player to partner with Braden Schneider, one that can kill penalties and move up if injuries arise. That player doesn’t really profile as the intimidator that you’re aiming for.
Offensively, I think they should be targeting someone that can score as the Rangers have a middle-of-the-pack attack. A key top-six addition could push them closer to a top-ten offense which, coupled with Igor Shesterkin, would make them very dangerous heading into the postseason. They could benefit from adding a heavy player in the bottom six (preferably one that could kill penalties) but you’ll need to set your sights lower than Jeannot.
koz125: I’m embarrassed to be a Penguins fan at the moment. Shouldn’t they just start the rebuild with how terrible GMRH has screwed the team over? Obviously, they’re no longer a serious contender and likely not a playoff team either.
On the surface, it’s one thing to say they should start the rebuild. But how exactly do they do that? Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin aren’t going anywhere; even if Pittsburgh wanted to move them, I think they’d invoke their no-trade protection. That’s a sizable chunk of their veteran core right there which makes a full-scale rebuild a lot harder to do.
Could they move Jeff Petry? Sure. Jake Guentzel would fetch a nice return as well. But Bryan Rust probably isn’t movable with his long-term contract and lower production. Rickard Rakell has had a nice year but his up-and-down track record will give teams pause, especially in the current cap environment. Jason Zucker would bring back a draft pick at the deadline as a rental so I suppose that’s something but that’s not moving the needle much. Brian Dumoulin has had a tough year so his value isn’t great and I think if they could have moved Marcus Pettersson by now, he’d be playing somewhere else. That doesn’t leave them much of tradable options in terms of their core (or at least higher-priced) players.
This is probably going to sound a little goofy but staying on the current path might make more sense. If you can’t rebuild properly, why go halfway and sit in the mushy middle of non-playoff teams? If the other veterans don’t want to move or can’t be moved, they can’t really do a full-scale rebuild. I agree that this team isn’t a contender but they’re close enough to the playoffs to justify staying the course for now.
It’s not a great spot to be in but quite frankly, none of their options are ideal at this point – do nothing, take a step back to become a non-playoff team that’ll finish 12th in the conference, or spend to try to sneak into a Wild Card spot. If they fall out of the race a bit more in the coming weeks (Tristan Jarry’s injury will play a role there), then sure, flip Zucker and get a future asset for someone that you’d otherwise lose for nothing. But that’s about the only rebuilding move I can see them making over the next few weeks.
Canucks Recall Three Players From AHL Abbotsford
With the Canucks set to return to action on Monday against New Jersey, they’ve made a trio of roster moves, announcing (Twitter link) the recalls of forwards Vasily Podkolzin, Phillip Di Giuseppe, and Nils Aman from Abbotsford of the AHL.
Podkolzin is the headliner of the three. The 21-year-old was a regular last season in Vancouver, picking up 14 goals and 12 assists in 79 games in his rookie campaign and the 2019 first-rounder was expected to take a step forward this year. However, he struggled out of the gate, notching just three assists in 16 games, resulting in him being sent to the AHL back in November. While Podkolzin didn’t light up the scoresheet by any stretch, he still fared reasonably well with Abbotsford, picking up seven goals and 11 helpers in 28 contests prior to the recall. Vancouver had just ten forwards on their roster before the recall so there’s a good chance that Podkolzkin will be in the lineup against the Devils.
This will be the third recall of the year for Di Giuseppe who had been sent back down when Vancouver hit the bye week. The 29-year-old has played just one game with Vancouver so far, his first appearance at the top level since 2020-21. Di Giuseppe has been quite productive in the minors, however, picking up 30 points in 33 games. He has seen NHL action in seven of the last eight seasons, tallying 16 goals and 37 assists in 202 appearances.
Aman, meanwhile, somewhat surprisingly cracked Vancouver’s opening roster out of training camp in his first season in North America. He got into 35 games with the team, logging just over 12 minutes a night but managed just a goal and four assists. That resulted him in him being sent down in late December and the demotion seemed to help him a bit offensively as he was more productive with Abbotsford, collecting four goals and five helpers in 17 contests.
With these moves, Vancouver’s roster now sits at the maximum size of 23 players.
Penguins Recall Dustin Tokarski On An Emergency Basis
It appears that Tristan Jarry won’t be able to return after the All-Star break as the Penguins announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Dustin Tokarski from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis. He had been sent down late last month when Pittsburgh hit their bye week.
The 33-year-old has made two appearances with Pittsburgh this season, posting a 2.67 GAA and a .915 SV%. While it’s a small sample size, both marks are better than his career averages of 3.12 and .902 respectively in 78 appearances over nine seasons. Tokarski has spent the bulk of the campaign in the AHL and has done well with a 2.31 GAA and a .920 SV% in 21 games, numbers that put him in the top eight in both categories.
The Penguins were hoping that Jarry would be able to return from the upper-body injury that has kept him out for the last couple of weeks but that’s unlikely to be the case now. Instead, it will continue to be Casey DeSmith‘s net for the time being as he tries to keep them in the playoff mix. At the moment, Pittsburgh holds a one-point lead on Buffalo for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Their schedule resumes on Tuesday with a matchup against Colorado.
Sean Couturier Could Return This Season
It has been a tough season for Flyers center Sean Couturier. After it looked like he’d be able to return earlier than expected from a back injury, he suffered a setback in October and eventually required surgery. However, it appears he’ll have a chance of getting back late in the season as GM Chuck Fletcher confirmed to Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now that they haven’t ruled out the veteran returning to the lineup:
He’s been progressing well. I know the surgeon is happy with the progress he’s made. As you ramp up the intensity of the on- and off-ice workouts, hopefully things continue to go as expected, and in that case, it would be great for him to come back this year and get some games.”
We’ll just have to see if there are things that slow down the recovery or not. That’s hard to predict, but right now he’s doing well. We’re certainly not on a fast-track with him. We do things very methodically. At the end of the day, it’s about the long-term and not this year.
When the 30-year-old underwent surgery in late October, the anticipated recovery timeline was three-to-four months so Couturier appears to be on track. But with Philadelphia struggling for most of the year (they currently sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division), it was also a strong possibility that they just held him out for the season to err on the side of caution to avoid any concern about him sustaining another injury.
When healthy, Couturier has been one of the stronger two-way centers in the league and was rewarded for his efforts in 2021 with an eight-year, $62MM contract with 2022-23 being the first year of that deal. Getting him back to top form would go a long way toward boosting Philadelphia’s lineup although that type of performance isn’t likely to come this season after being off for so long. Even so, just getting him back and Couturier showing that he’s healthy would certainly be a welcome sign heading into the offseason.
Snapshots: Skills Results, International Games, Kastelic
The All-Star festivities kicked off on Friday night with the annual Skills Competition which featured some staple events as well as some new outdoor ones. Here is a listing of the winners for each event:
Tendy Tandem
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG/Juuse Saros, NSH (Central Division) – 13 points
Fastest Skater
Andrei Svechnikov, CAR – 13.699 seconds
NHL Pitch ‘n Puck
Nick Suzuki, MTL – 3
Splash Shot
Cale Makar/Mikko Rantanen, COL – 18.7 seconds
Hardest Shot
Elias Pettersson, VAN – 103.2 mph
Breakaway Challenge
Sidney Crosby, PIT/Alex Ovechkin, WSH – 40
Accuracy Shooting
Brock Nelson, NYI – 12.419 seconds
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- It appears that Australia will be where next season gets underway as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (Twitter link) that it’s all but a lock that the NHL will have games there to kick things off. He suggests that Boston and Los Angeles are among the teams in the mix to go although the full details won’t be announced until everything is finalized. Games were played in Prague to start this season while there were a pair of games in Tampere as well back in November.
- While there were plenty of players who were sent to the minors during the All-Star break, at least one regular player won’t be getting recalled right away. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays that the Senators’ plan for Mark Kastelic is to keep the forward in the minors once the schedule resumes. The 23-year-old has played in 43 games for Ottawa this season but has been out with a back issue for the last couple of weeks and will get some time to get back into form with AHL Belleville before potentially coming back up later on.
Blues Aren’t Expected To Re-Sign Ivan Barbashev
While there are some notable forwards that have a shot at moving between now and the March 3rd trade deadline, some teams looking for upgrades might instead be aiming for someone a little lower in the lineup. Those squads should be keeping tabs on the Blues as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the team has informed Ivan Barbashev that he won’t be re-signed for next season and they expect to trade in the next few weeks.
2021-22 was a breakout season for the 27-year-old. With his career highs being 14 goals, 15 assists, and 26 points (set over two years), he blew past those last year with 24 goals and 36 assists in 81 games, becoming a key part of their attack in the process.
However, Barbashev hasn’t been able to repeat those numbers this season. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering the jumps from a year ago. But what bodes well for St. Louis in a potential swap is that the forward is on pace to post numbers that could beat those career bests before last season. With 24 points in 51 games, he’s playing at a 39-point pace.
Barbashev is in the final season of his contract, one that has turned out to be quite a bargain at an AAV of $2.25MM. Assuming that St. Louis is willing to retain up to the maximum 50% ($1.125MM), that would drop him to a price point that many teams – even the really cap-strapped ones – should be able to afford.
In an ideal world, St. Louis probably wouldn’t mind keeping Barbashev around. However, their cap situation makes that idea basically impossible. The team has over $69MM committed to just a dozen players for next season per CapFriendly and they need to either re-sign or replace Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly (replacing both seems to be the likeliest direction at this point) and fill out the rest of the roster. By the time they do that, they won’t be able to afford Barbashev on a market-value contract.
As a player that can play both center and the wing, kill penalties in a pinch, and contribute some secondary scoring in a middle-six role, Barbashev can fill a useful role on several teams. With what should be a fairly low price tag in terms of the impact on the salary cap, he’ll fit on the books of quite a few teams as well. Accordingly, while Tarasenko and O’Reilly might be the headline names, Barbashev is likely to have a strong trade market of his own in the coming weeks.
Rangers Recall Sammy Blais
It’s not too often we see transactions during All-Star weekend but the Rangers made a roster move today. They brought back winger Sammy Blais from his conditioning loan, per the AHL’s transactions log.
It was a successful stint with AHL Hartford for the 26-year-old. He had a two-goal effort last night against Utica and wound up with four goals in five games in his first minor league action since the 2018-19 season. Unfortunately for both Blais and New York, that’s basically the only success that he has had this season as things simply haven’t gone well at the NHL level. He has just five assists in 38 games on the fourth line which is hardly what they were expecting from him when they acquired him from St. Louis as part of the Pavel Buchnevich trade in 2021. He actually hasn’t scored for the Rangers since being acquired as he missed most of last season with a knee injury.
Blais is in the final year of his contract which carries a $1.525MM cap hit; he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency for the first time this summer. At this point, a return to New York seems unlikely and he’s a candidate to be moved at the trade deadline as a salary offset if GM Chris Drury is able to make a big splash on the trade front. With his time in the minors going well, it’ll be interesting to see if Blais will be back in the lineup when their schedule resumes on Monday against Calgary in an effort to try to boost his value heading into next month’s trade deadline.
Evening Notes: Nyquist, Sasson, Salo
The Columbus Blue Jackets got some bad news when it was announced on February 1st that veteran forward Gustav Nyquist would miss the rest of the regular season. Not only would Nyquist’s absence be felt by the Blue Jackets on the ice, but many were disappointed that Columbus would not have the opportunity to trade Nyquist in order to recoup some assets before his contract expires at the end of this season.
According to TSN’s Chris Johnston, a trade is still a possibility. On TSN’s Insider Trading segment, Johnston reports that because of Nyquist’s injury, the ability of teams to place Nyquist on long-term injured reserve to “stash” Nyquist until the playoffs (when the salary cap is no longer a consideration) he has actually become a more attractive trade candidate. Nyquist is a three-time 20-goal scorer and should be able to help a team looking to reinforce its scoring attack,
Some other notes from across the hockey world:
- The Colorado Avalanche could be eyeing some potential college free agents. Dater on Hockey’s Adrian Dater reports that the Avalanche are interested in Western Michigan center Max Sasson. Sasson, 22, is an undrafted player who has scored 31 points in 28 games so far this season. Should Sasson sign in Colorado, he would add to the Avalanche’s record of picking from the college free agent ranks, something they did last year when they inked Olympian Ben Meyers to his entry-level deal.
- The Connecticut Post’s Michael Fornabaio reports that New York Islanders defenseman Robin Salo is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Salo, 24, is currently with the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, and has four points in 12 games. While it is unclear whether this injury has any long-term implications, it could impact his viability for a call-up should the Islanders wish to shake up their current defensive arrangement.
Minor Transactions: 02/03/23
While the NHL takes a brief pause to celebrate the league’s biggest stars in the All-Star Weekend, teams in minor leagues and foreign leagues are pressing forward with their respective seasons and making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
- Former Detroit Red Wings farmhand Jussi Olkinoura has found his new team after securing his contract termination two days ago. Per a team announcement, the 32-year-old goalie has signed with Brynas IF, a club in the SHL. This signing marks Olkinoura’s first venture into Sweden’s top league, having already tended the crease for teams in Liiga and the KHL. Brynas’ starter this season, former NHLer Anders Lindback, has struggled to the tune of an .896 save percentage in 31 games played. He’ll now have to contend with Olkinoura, an Olympic Gold Medalist, to remain Brynas’ number-one netminder.
- Dallas Stars prospect Antonio Stranges has been re-assigned to the Stars’ ECHL affiliate, the Idaho Steelheads. This is the second time this season Stranges has been sent to the ECHL, with the first demotion coming in December. The former OHL star hasn’t played since January 14th, and will now head back to the ECHL with the hope of getting his season back on track. Stranges has been productive in his limited action in the ECHL, scoring six points in five games, but his time in the American league has been uneven.
- Former Ferris State University captain Liam MacDougall is headed overseas. The 25-year-old forward has signed with the Fife Flyers, a club in the EIHL, the top division of professional hockey in the United Kingdom. MacDougall heads to Scotland after an unsuccessful professional debut in the ECHL. He got a short cameo on an amateur tryout agreement with the Cincinnati Cyclones near the end of last season, registering a goal in six games. He signed with the Norfolk Admirals for this season to begin his ECHL career in earnest but struggled to make an impact, and after scoring just three points in 17 games he was released. Now nearly two months after receiving his release, MacDougall has a new team to continue his pro career with.
- The ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals have released netminder Michael Bullion. The 25-year-old Alaska native made his pro debut with the team last season, signing after a few years of playing at the Canadian university level. He was solid in his nine-game trial run, posting a .912 save percentage and 2.67 goals-against-average. This season Bullion and the Admirals have struggled mightily to keep the puck out of the net. Through 18 games Bullion has a 3-11-2 record, a 4.08 goals-against-average, and an .877 save percentage, and now both Bullion and the Admirals will part ways seeking other options.
- Former Boston College netminder Eric Dop has signed with the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder. The deal marks the Thunder as Dop’s fourth team of what has been quite the professional debut. After playing last season as Boston College’s starter, Dop, 24, turned pro this year and signed with the Tulsa Oilers. After three games where Dop was used only in relief for the team’s starter, he posted an .854 save percentage and as promptly traded to the Allen Americans. Dop started one game for the Americans, saving 34 out of 39 shots, and played once in relief, before he was released. He then earned a PTO with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters before signing with the Utah Grizzlies. Dop started one game for Utah, a 6-2 loss to the Steelheads, and was released a few days later. With today’s signing, he now finds himself in Wichita with a chance to back up starter Evan Buitenhuis.
- Danish forward Morten Jensen has signed a two-year extension to remain with his current team, Denmark’s Rungsted Seier Capital. Jensen is a star defenseman in Denmark’s Metal Ligaen, with 143 points in 177 career games there. The two-time Danish champion will look to help rise from their third-to-last place in the standings.
This page will be updated throughout the day.