East Notes: Talbot, Brodie, Murray, Wilson
It’s not shaping up to be a particularly strong trade market for veteran goaltenders but Postmedia’s Ken Warren posits that Senators netminder Cam Talbot could be in play, suggesting the possibility of the veteran re-signing seems less likely now than just a few weeks ago. The 35-year-old – who has already been ruled out of the next two games – has a 2.90 GAA and a .905 SV% in 28 games with Ottawa this season, numbers that are close to league average. While it would likely take some retention on his $3.667MM AAV, the pending unrestricted free agent could certainly serve as an upgrade on the second-string option for several contenders and essentially keep Talbot in the role that he was acquired to fill for the Sens this season.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- The Maple Leafs could get a key defenseman back in the lineup tomorrow against Washington as TSN’s Mark Masters relays (Twitter link) that T.J. Brodie is planning to suit up pending medical clearance. The veteran skated on the top pairing at practice today and would be a welcome addition to Toronto’s back end. Brodie is averaging over 21 minutes a night (third-most among their defenders) and has eight points in 28 games so far. Brodie is currently on IR and the Leafs have a full roster so they’d have to send someone down to activate the blueliner.
- Still with the Maple Leafs, Sports Illustrated’s David Alter notes that goaltender Matt Murray is dealing with an ankle issue. He was supposed to get the start last night against Ottawa but exited warmups early, resulting in Ilya Samsonov getting the nod once again. It’s unknown at this point if Murray will be available to dress on Sunday against Washington. He has a 2.73 GAA and a .911 SV% in 19 games so far this season, numbers that are nearly identical to his career averages.
- Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters including NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link) that they have ruled out winger Tom Wilson for their final two games before the All-Star break. The 28-year-old left Tuesday’s game against Colorado after blocking a shot off his right leg. The team plans to re-evaluate him after the break. Wilson has played in just eight games this season after missing time with an ACL injury and has two goals and an assist so far.
Latest On Dylan Larkin
Last weekend, it was reported that the Red Wings had presented a new offer to center Dylan Larkin as they look to lock up their captain to a long-term extension. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports (subscription link) that the offer was for the maximum of eight years and carried an AAV of $8MM. Considering there hasn’t been an announcement of an extension at this point, it’s safe to say that the offer was declined.
The proposal represented a fair-sized jump on the $6.1MM Larkin is currently getting on his deal that’s set to expire in June. However, St. James points to the eight-year, $73.2MM extension ($9.15MM AAV) that Mathew Barzal signed with the Islanders as a logical comparable from Larkin’s camp. If that’s the case, the two sides are likely trying to bridge somewhere in the range of a $1.15MM gap per season. While a deal isn’t done yet, the 26-year-old doesn’t believe there’s any sort of strain in negotiations:
It doesn’t seem like there are any hard feelings, it is just the way it is going. With Steve, I don’t really expect anything else. It’s been very professional and we’ve had a lot of conversations about the team and certain things that come up during a season with guys or whatever it may be. It’s been pretty status quo.
Larkin put up his second career 30-goal campaign last season and is averaging just shy of a point per game this season with 43 in 47 contests. If he stays at that pace, it’ll be the third time he averages at least 0.9 points per game. Those are certainly strong numbers but how much more of a ceiling does he still have offensively? While Larkin is deployed as a number one center, there’s typically an expectation that the player in that role can help carry an offense and get past the point-per-game threshold.
That’s likely a big factor in negotiations. A $9M-plus AAV would put Larkin in the top-25 in cap hit among NHL forwards but is he a top-25 forward? Could he still become one as some of Detroit’s young talent continues to develop and improve, bolstering the scoring power for the Red Wings over time? These are the questions that GM Steve Yzerman is certainly pondering at the moment.
It’s certainly not an ideal spot for Detroit to be in. Larkin has made it clear that his desire is to stay with his hometown team. Many expected an extension to be in place by now. But while upping the offer for Larkin may not be ideal from a spending perspective, the alternative isn’t any better as trying to find a new top pivot on the open market comes with its own risks and would likely cost more than they’re offering here.
The Red Wings are a team that’s now in the process of trying to build back into being a playoff contender. That’s a lot tougher task to do without a top center which means Larkin walking in free agency would be a tough blow. Accordingly, even though there’s a sizable gap to be bridged financially, Detroit fans should still have some optimism that they’ll be able to find common ground on a new deal. It’s just going to cost more than Yzerman and the Red Wings would like.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Golden Knights Assign Three To The AHL
Ahead of tonight’s contest against the Islanders, the Golden Knights made a trio of roster moves, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned forwards Pavel Dorofeyev and Byron Froese along with defenseman Kaedan Korczak to AHL Henderson.
Dorofeyev has had three separate stints with Vegas this season but has seen limited NHL action despite that, getting into just three games where he was held off the scoresheet while logging just under 12 minutes per contest. He suffered an undisclosed injury three weeks ago but this assignment means that Dorofeyev has been cleared to return since injured players can’t be sent down. The 22-year-old was a top producer in the minors last season but has been a bit quieter in 2022-23, picking up six goals and six assists in 21 games with the Silver Knights.
As for Froese, he had been on his third recall of the month prior to this assignment and had been centring the fourth line during that stint. So far this season, he has a goal and an assist in seven games while winning 61.5% of his faceoffs. The 31-year-old is in the first season of a two-year, two-way deal and has been productive in Henderson with 27 points in 36 contests.
Korczak, meanwhile, has been up with Vegas on five different occasions this season, all within the last two months. Along the way, he has gotten into ten games on the back end for the Golden Knights, picking up a couple of helpers along with 25 hits while logging 17:34 per night. The 21-year-old also has eight points in 30 games in Henderson. He’s likely to continue to be one of the top recall options the next time a defender goes down or the team wants some extra depth.
Blue Jackets Claim Lane Pederson Off Waivers From Canucks
The Blue Jackets have added some forward depth as NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed center Lane Pederson off waivers from the Canucks. To make room for him on the active roster, Columbus has placed winger Gustav Nyquist on injured reserve.
Pederson successfully made it through waivers back in October while he was still with Carolina. With them, he played in four games with AHL Chicago before being included as a salary offset in the trade that also saw Vancouver pick up defenseman Ethan Bear. The 25-year-old remained in the minors with Abbotsford for nearly two months, averaging just shy of a goal per game which earned him a recall in late November.
Since being brought up, Pederson had been a regular for the Canucks, getting into 11 games (including last night’s contest against Columbus while on waivers), picking up a goal and two assists while averaging just under 13 minutes a night. For his career, Pederson has two goals and six helpers in 55 games between Arizona, San Jose, and Vancouver. He’s on a one-way contract for the league minimum salary of $750K and is arbitration-eligible if he can get into 25 more games this season. Otherwise, he becomes a Group Six unrestricted free agent.
The move is a low-risk flyer for the Blue Jackets who needed a replacement for Nyquist who is out indefinitely while there’s a strong chance they’ll be trading a few players between now and the March 3rd deadline so extra bodies were going to be needed at some point. Pederson has a chance to play a regular role in Columbus in the hopes of finding some NHL stability that has so far eluded him across four different organizations.
Metropolitan Notes: Hurricanes, Cuylle, Devils
With Max Pacioretty and his $7MM AAV eventually heading back to LTIR, the Hurricanes appear to be a team that will have ample cap space to make a move or two to upgrade for the stretch run. However, in his latest piece for The Athletic (subscription link), Cory Lavalette suggests that while on the surface, a rental to replace Pacioretty (a rental himself) might make sense, Carolina’s trade history suggests that they’re likelier to target someone signed beyond this season. Per CapFriendly, the Hurricanes only have $53.5MM in commitments for 2023-24 so it’s plausible that they could eye a longer-term piece which gives them considerably more options compared to teams that will need to be shopping for one-and-done players.
More from the Metropolitan:
- The Rangers have returned winger Will Cuylle to AHL Hartford, reports Arthur Staple of The Athletic (Twitter link). The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise since New York is now in their bye week. Cuylle got into two games in his first NHL stint but barely played six minutes per game. The 20-year-old has 13 goals and 20 assists in 39 games with the Wolf Pack and will get some more time down there before potentially being brought back up after the break.
- Devils assistant GM Dan MacKinnon confirmed to NJ Advance Media’s Ryan Novozinsky that the plan is for defenseman Luke Hughes to turn pro once his season at Michigan comes to an end. The 19-year-old was the fourth-overall pick in 2021 and has 26 points in 25 games so far for the Wolverines. He’d be an intriguing option for New Jersey down the stretch and in the postseason as he’d definitely be another offensive weapon on their back end. MacKinnon also confirmed that 2020 first-rounder Shakir Mukhamadullin will join AHL Utica once his season with Salavat Yulaev of the KHL comes to an end. The 21-year-old has five goals and 15 helpers in 55 games so far.
Blue Jackets Recall Jake Christiansen
The Blue Jackets have brought up some extra depth in advance of their game tonight against Seattle, announcing the recall of defenseman Jake Christiansen from Cleveland of the AHL. His promotion is likely related to Nick Blankenburg‘s upper-body injury that caused him to miss last night’s game against Vancouver.
It’s the second recall of the season for the 23-year-old who got into 17 games with Columbus during that first stint before being sent back to the Monsters late last month. Christiansen had a pair of assists during that stretch while averaging a hit and block per game in just under 14 minutes of playing time per night. He has been more productive in the minors, picking up a dozen points in 23 contests and is only a year removed from a 45-point sophomore year with Cleveland.
Columbus now has seven healthy defensemen on the roster so there’s no guarantee that Christiansen will be in the lineup tonight against the Kraken. The blueliner is in the final year of his entry-level contract and will be eligible for salary arbitration this summer.
Devils Assign Nikita Okhotyuk To AHL
After being up with New Jersey for more than a month on what started as an emergency loan, Nikita Okhotyuk’s time with the Devils has come to an end for now as the team announced (Twitter link) that the defenseman has been assigned to Utica of the AHL.
The 22-year-old got into ten games with New Jersey and saw action in a particularly limited role as he averaged under 12 minutes a night. Okhotyuk picked up his second career NHL goal earlier this month and also chipped in with 31 hits and nine blocked shots. He has been a bit more productive with the Comets, picking up two goals and four assists in 17 contests at the AHL level.
With this assignment, the Devils are down to just six healthy defenders on their roster. However, John Marino has been skating for a couple of weeks and was upgraded to day-to-day last weekend so it’s possible that he’ll be ready to be activated for their next game after the All-Star break against Vancouver. Otherwise, Okhotyuk or someone else will likely be getting recalled a little more than a week from now.
Flames Assign Three Players To AHL
Calgary’s roster was full for last night’s victory over Seattle but it’s considerably smaller now as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned forwards Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier plus defenseman Dennis Gilbert to Calgary of the AHL. No corresponding recalls were made.
Duehr and Pelletier were both recalled three weeks ago with Duehr seeing regular action while Pelletier was more limited. Duehr got into eight games with the Flames, picking up his first two NHL goals while averaging a little over nine minutes a night. This season at the AHL level, the 25-year-old has ten goals with the Wranglers, just one shy of his output from a year ago in 28 fewer games. Duehr is in his second full professional campaign after signing a two-year entry-level deal with Calgary as an undrafted college free agent in 2021.
Pelletier is widely considered to be one of Calgary’s top prospects so when he was brought up, there was some excitement to see how he’d fare against top competition. However, he was a regular scratch early and only got into four contests where he logged less than 11 minutes a night. That’s not necessarily the most optimal usage for a player that had 34 points in 31 games in the minors this season but he at least now has a taste of what things are like at the NHL level.
As for Gilbert, this NHL stint was a short-lived one as he’s going down just two days after being recalled. The 26-year-old has played in nine games for the Flames this season, collecting an assist along with 19 hits and 20 penalty minutes while averaging 10:35 per contest. He also has five points in 24 AHL contests.
The Flames are off until February 6th so these three assignments are likely being done to bank some cap space. The demotions will free up a little over $13K per day and add to their cap room heading into the deadline. However, it remains to be seen if these three will be back with the big club when they resume play or if someone else will get an opportunity.
Minor Transactions: 01/27/23
It’s another busy night of games on the NHL schedule, with half of the league’s teams set to play. Highlights for tonight’s contests include the “Battle of Ontario” rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, a Pacific Division showdown between the Seattle Kraken and Calgary Flames, and a showdown between two of the league’s better teams in the New Jersey Devils and Dallas Stars. As hockey fans enjoy the action from tonight’s vast slate of games, teams across the hockey world are making roster moves. We’ll keep track of all those transactions here.
- According to a team announcement, former NHL defenseman Andreas Borgman will leave his current club, Frolunda HC, after this season. Borgman’s comments in the team release indicate a desire to potentially return to North America after spending the last two seasons playing in Gothenburg for Frolunda. Borgman, when he’s managed to get on the ice, has been Frolunda’s number-one defenseman this season, ranking seventh in the entire SHL in average time-on-ice per game for blueliners. He’s only played in thirteen games, though. But if the 2016-17 SHL Rookie of the Year can manage to stay healthy and productive for the rest of the season, he could find himself back in North America next year.
- Former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Emil Larmi has signed a two-year extension to remain with his current club, the SHL’s Vaxjo Lakers. The 26-year-old transferred to Vaxjo last season after a successful 32-game run in Liiga with the Pelicans, where he posted a .918 save percentage. This year, he has emerged as Vaxjo’s top goalie and has led the team to a league-leading 25-7-2 record through 38 games. He’s posted a .932 save percentage and 1.74 goals-against-average through 22 games played this season. He currently ranks second in the SHL in save percentage, behind only former New York Islanders prospect Linus Soderstrom.
- 2014 Minnesota Wild draft pick Pontus Sjalin, the brother of former Florida Panthers prospect Calle Sjalin, has signed a two-year extension to remain with his current club, Lulea HF. Sjalin has been with Lulea since 2015 when he transferred there from Leksands. Sjalin is in his seventh season as a regular at Lulea and helped them make a run to the SHL Finals last season, where they eventually fell to Farjestad BK.
- Veteran center Ethan Werek has been released by his club of the last three seasons, the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star. The 2009 second-round pick has been playing for the Chinese KHL side since 2019-20 and even represented China at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Werek’s production has declined over the past three seasons, though, and now he has been released after scoring just seven points in 28 games.
- Austrian forward Felix Maxa has signed a two-year extension to remain with his current club, Villacher SV. The team, who compete in the ICEHL, a Central European league with teams from Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Slovenia have signed Maxa in the midst of what has been a breakout campaign for him. He’s flown past his career high in production with 18 points in 37 games, and has cemented his future in Villach as a regular contributor.
- Marc-Olivier Vallerand, a former captain of the QMJHL’s Quebec Ramparts, has returned to England. The EIHL’s Sheffield Steelers, a side in the top professional league of the United Kingdom, have announced the signing of Vallerand from the ICEHL’s Slovenian club: HK Olimpija Ljubljana. Vallerand was a star scorer in his last tenure in Sheffield and has scored 175 points in just 133 career games in the EIHL. He scored a respectable 13 points in 17 games for Ljubljana, and now heads back to the Steelers in what is a major coup for one of the league’s top sides.
- Despite playing in more games in the top French professional league, Ligue Magnus, than in any other season of his career, young netminder Gaetan Richard is leaving his current club, the Bordeaux Boxers. Per a team announcement, Richard has left the club in part due to the emergence of veteran goalie Samu Perhonen. Perhonen, a 2011 Edmonton Oilers third-round pick, transferred to Bordeaux in December and has stabilized the team’s standing in the crease. Richard had posted an unimpressive .890 save percentage this season, and has not played since the arrival of Perhonen. Since Perhonen is sporting a .922 save percentage through nine games since his arrival in France and is trending towards being Bordeaux’s number-one netminder, Richard has made the choice to seek other opportunities to continue his pro career.
- Herning Blue Fox, one of the best teams in Denmark’s top professional hockey league, has signed two North American players to contract extensions. The first, Mac Carruth, is a 2010 Chicago Blackhawks seventh-round pick who laid waste to the EIHL last season for the Cardiff Devils. Leading the Welsh side to a championship, he led his league with a .937 save percentage and also has nearly 100 ECHL games on his resume. He’ll now remain in Denmark beyond this season, where he has a .924 save percentage in 37 games, which ranks third in the league among all starters. The second player, Phil Marinaccio, led Ligue Magnus, the French pro league, in goals during the 2021-22 season, and has 17 goals and 39 points in 33 games for the Blue Fox this season.
- The ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits have signed longtime minor leaguer Dean Yakura to their active roster. Yakura, 37, is a well-travelled veteran of lower-level minor leagues, beginning his career with the SPHL’s Pensacola Ice Flyers in 2010-11. He served as the captain of the Federal Hockey League’s Danbury Titans for two seasons and spent some time last season as depth for the Swamp Rabbits. That’s the role he’ll occupy this year with this contract.
- The Iowa Heartanders have released goaltender Trevin Kozlowski, per the ECHL’s official transactions report. The 25-year-old netminder, who was the ECHL’s 2021-22 Community Service Award winner, has struggled so far this year to the tune of a .869 save percentage through 12 games. The Heartlanders will rely on 2019 Minnesota Wild second-rounder Hunter Jones and former Denver Pioneer Corbin Kaczperski moving forward, while Kozlowski will look elsewhere to continue his career.
- Josh Winquist, an above-point-per-game scorer at the ECHL level, is moving overseas to continue his professional career. Per a report from Johan Svensson of SportExpressen, Vasterviks IK have signed Winquist away from his current club, the Fort Wayne Komets, for the rest of the season. It’s a badly-needed move for the Swedish side, who sit in last place in the second-division HockeyAllsvenskan. Vasterviks made it to the promotion play-offs last season, but now are looking to avoid relegation and are hoping that the addition of Winquist’s scoring abilities can keep them up.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Montreal Canadiens Recall Owen Beck On Emergency Basis
The Montreal Canadiens have made a bit of a surprise move, recalling prospect forward Owen Beck from the OHL’s Peterborough Petes on an emergency basis. Per the team’s announcement, Beck will join the Canadiens in Ottawa, where he will possibly make his NHL debut.
Beck, who will turn 19 years old in a week, is one of the Canadiens’ more highly-regarded prospects. Beck was the first pick on day two of the 2022 NHL draft, 33rd overall, and was ranked in the first-round mix by multiple publications.
Scouts raved about Beck’s responsible two-way game, mature character, faceoff acumen, and possible offensive upside. While Beck has had a slow start in Peterborough after a blockbuster mid-season trade, he scored 41 points in 30 games this year for the Mississauga Steelheads.
Beck had an impressive training camp and preseason in the fall and later earned his way onto Canada’s Gold Medal-winning World Junior Championship team, after being initially excluded from their main lineup. While this recall is hardly great news for the Petes, who paid multiple players and draft picks to acquire Beck, it does speak to the high opinion the Canadiens organization seems to hold of their recent second-round pick.
The Canadiens have suffered significant injuries to their forward corps, and this recall comes after earlier today when the Canadiens’ three established centers, Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, and Christian Dvorak, each missed practice for treatments. If one of those three centers is unable to play for the Canadiens in their next game, Beck could see time down the middle.
Otherwise, he could shift to the wing and give the Canadiens the opportunity to play with six defensemen. The team had been operating with seven blueliners for many recent games, but with Joel Edmundson possibly injured as well, the addition of Beck gives coach Martin St. Louis new options with how to structure his gameday lineup.
The NHL-CHL’s agreement for emergency recalls gives Beck a maximum of five games to play with the Canadiens. Since the team has two games and then a break, and since the agreement stipulates that he cannot miss more than one OHL game, it’s likely that Beck will be back in Peterborough in short order.