Detroit Red Wings Acquire Jasper Weatherby
2:25pm: In a separate (but connected) AHL deal, Patrick McGrath is also going to the Griffins. The 29-year-old is signed to a minor league contract and couldn’t be included in the NHL portion of the trade. McGrath is an agitator, with just a handful of points to his name over a long minorleague career.
2:05pm: The San Jose Sharks have made a minor move, sending Jasper Weatherby to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Kyle Criscuolo. The trade swaps two players that were in the minor leagues for their respective organizations, with neither one seeing any NHL action this year.
Weatherby, 24, played 50 games for the Sharks last season after signing out of the University of North Dakota and scored 11 points. The 6’4″ center showed a little promise, even if his offense was rather limited. Surprisingly, he hasn’t seen so much as a recall this season, and is struggling in the AHL. Weatherby has just six points in 39 games for the San Jose Barracuda and was trending toward being unqualified in the summer. While there still may be a bit of potential there, his status as a restricted free agent and sudden drop down the depth chart suggested his time with San Jose was nearing an end.
In Detroit, he’ll join a Grand Rapids Griffins team that is struggling to get much of anything going. The team has been outscored by 40 goals this season and has a 14-19-3 record so far. Perhaps he finds a new level in his game and earns a contract in the offseason, but that is no guarantee. Given the fact that Weatherby is arbitration-eligible, many teams would likely be moving on if his performance continues.
Criscuolo, meanwhile, is at the other end of the spectrum. A 30-year-old undersized, undrafted forward, he has spent nearly his entire professional career in the minor leagues. With just 15 NHL appearances, he’s purely an AHL depth piece at this point. Criscuolo is also a free agent at the end of the year, though he’ll be unrestricted, and at least offers a bit more experience for the Barracuda. In 335 AHL contests, he has recorded 187 points and won the Calder Cup in 2017.
Fans waiting for big trade news will have to wait, as neither of these players project to make much of an impact at the NHL level.
Ottawa Senators Place Artem Zub On Injured Reserve
The Ottawa Senators sent Jake Lucchini to the minor leagues to clear room for Josh Norris‘s return, but another transaction won’t be quite as popular. Artem Zub has been moved back to injured reserve, retroactive to his last appearance on January 14.
Zub suffered a lower-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche and left the game after just 13 minutes of ice time. Jacob Bernard-Docker replaced him on Monday, and ended up playing nearly 21 minutes, behind only Thomas Chabot‘s 26:48 among Senators defensemen.
Bernard-Docker is an excellent replacement, but the Senators have shown repeatedly this season that they struggle defensively with Zub out of the lineup. The 27-year-old averages more than 21 minutes a night when he does play, with more than 19 coming at even strength.
Unfortunately, that has only been in 21 games so far, as he keeps finding himself on the injured list. Zub signed a new four-year extension in December, but he’ll have to stay healthy for it to pay off.
Jake Lucchini Clears Waivers
Jan 18: Lucchini has cleared waivers and was assigned to the minor leagues.
Jan 17: The Ottawa Senators have placed Jake Lucchini on waivers today according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets, which would allow them to return him to the minor leagues. The depth forward already cleared earlier this season, but played his 11th game of the year last night, meaning his status has reset.
Lucchini, 27, received his first taste of NHL action this season, after toiling in the minor leagues since 2018. Stops in Wilke-Barre/Scranton and Laval didn’t go very well, but the undrafted center exploded last year for the Belleville Senators, scoring 20 goals and 51 points in 72 games. After starting this season on an even better pace, he has managed to carve out a small role in the Ottawa depth chart.
Though he likely won’t be an impact player for them, Lucchini will probably see some more NHL action at some point down the road.
The bigger implication here is that Joshua Norris could be ready to return for the Senators. The 23-year-old center set a career-high with 35 goals in just 66 games for the team last season, but has suited up just five times this year. After missing several months, his return would be a huge boost for an Ottawa team just trying to build their program and stay competitive. The playoffs may not be possible – they currently sit 19-21-3 – but development for their young players could easily lead to more success a year from now.
Montreal Canadiens Will Not Trade Sam Montembeault
When looking around for goaltenders that might be of interest at the trade deadline, one might settle on the Montreal Canadiens. The team gave Cayden Primeau a three-year, one-way contract in the fall that suggested he would soon be installed at the NHL level, but still have Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault taking those spots.
Montembeault, the younger of the two, is only signed through 2023-24, so had drawn some speculation as a potential trade target. The 26-year-old goaltender has been strong for Montreal this year, posting a .912 save percentage in 18 appearances, much better than his older counterpart. Perhaps it is because of that performance that Kent Hughes, speaking with reporters including Eric Engels of Sportsnet, explained that he considers Montembeault a part of the team’s future and will not trade the netminder.
There have been flashes of this before from Montembeault. A third-round pick by the Florida Panthers in 2015, he burst onto the NHL scene a few years later and was impressive. The Panthers went 4-0-1 in his first five appearances, before he eventually went through some rookie struggles. It was the same in 2019-20 when he played 14 times in the NHL, showing ability but no consistency. Last year with the Canadiens, Montembeault was left out to dry many nights, playing behind a team that was destined for the first-overall pick. His .891 save percentage in 38 appearances hides some encouraging development that has carried over to this season.
Now, the question is whether or not Hughes’ comments about Montembeault mean anything specific for Allen, who is set to start a two-year extension next season. He has struggled with injuries this year and has an .892 save percentage (easily the worst of his career) in 27 games. The veteran netminder will turn 33 before the new deal kicks in, and will carry a $3.85MM cap hit through 2024-25.
While Montreal isn’t expected to challenge for the Stanley Cup next year, it’s not like they have plans for a years-long rebuild. Not with some of the young talent that is already in place. That leaves a complicated goaltending situation, especially for next season when Primeau will no longer be waiver-exempt. If Montembeault is part of the long-term solution, it’s not clear how the time share will play out over the next few years, as they transition toward playoff contention once again.
Nashville Predators Reassign Roland McKeown
Jan 18: McKeown has now been sent back to the AHL.
Jan 14: After opening up a roster spot yesterday when they returned Yaroslav Askarov to the minors, the Predators have filled that vacancy, announcing that they’ve recalled defenseman Roland McKeown from AHL Milwaukee.
It’s the fourth recall of the season for McKeown and the third in the last two weeks as he has been shuffled back and forth a bit more than usual lately, including to create the roster spot when Askarov had to be brought up a few days ago. The 26-year-old has gotten into five games with Nashville this season, logging 13:32 per night on the back end in his first NHL action since the 2017-18 season. In his career, he has three assists in 15 appearances at the top level.
McKeown has spent the bulk of the year in the minors, getting into 25 games with the Admirals where he has eight points. He’s in the first season of a two-year, two-way deal and is likely to return to his previous role of being Nashville’s spare defender as they were only carrying the minimum of six prior to this roster move.
Juraj Slafkovsky Out Three Months With Lower-Body Injury
The Montreal Canadiens have provided updates on several injured players, and none of them are good. Juraj Slafkovsky, the first-overall pick from 2022, will miss three months with a lower-body injury that does not require surgery. Jake Evans will also not need surgery, but is out for 8-10 weeks. Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia will be out until the All-Star break (the Canadiens return to play on February 11), and Jake Allen will be out a minimum of a week.
A three-month timeline essentially ends Slafkovsky’s rookie season. The Canadiens will wrap up their schedule on April 13, unless a miraculous playoff run is made in the second half.
With that in mind, 39 games and 10 points are not totals the Canadiens had hoped for. The big winger failed to record a point in his last 15 games, posting a -12 rating during that time and recording just 11 shots on goal. He looked overmatched for long stretches, with many suggesting that he should have been playing in the World Juniors or AHL, instead of struggling with Montreal.
Now, he’ll have to work through this injury and try to come back more prepared in 2022-23, when the Canadiens will hopefully be more competitive. The team is 19-23-3 on the year and very well may position themselves at the deadline to lose as many games as possible down the stretch. They sit 26th in the league overall, and like every other team that isn’t in playoff contention, hope to get closer to the first-overall pick.
Toronto Maple Leafs Reassign Pontus Holmberg
One of the bright spots this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs has been the emergence of Pontus Holmberg as a legitimate NHL option so early into his North American career. After missing the last few games with an illness, though, the team has reassigned the young forward to the minor leagues. The move likely will give him a chance to get back into game shape before returning to the NHL squad down the road.
Holmberg, 23, was a sixth-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2018, but quickly became one of the most successful players in the SHL. By last season, he was scoring near a point-per-game pace with Vaxjo HC, took home Swedish forward of the year, and was SHL playoff MVP after leading the postseason in goals and points.
After just 15 games in the minor leagues, where he racked up eight points, he was with the Maple Leafs, taking a regular shift and scoring 11 points in 28 games. For a team so heavily invested in their top players, entry-level performers are critical. Holmberg will likely be back with the NHL club at some point, though it may not be for a little while. The Toronto Marlies are headed out on a long road trip and won’t play another home game until February. Holmberg obviously doesn’t need to stay with the team for that entire stretch, but the team may want to let him get back into the swing of things with several minor league tilts.
Washington Capitals Recall Aliaksei Protas
After sending him down earlier this month, Aliaksei Protas has been recalled once again by the Washington Capitals. This move follows the announcement that Nic Dowd will miss some time with a lower-body injury.
Protas, 22, played five games with the Hershey Bears during his demotion, recording three assists in the process. Previously, he had played 41 games with the Capitals, scoring three goals and ten points. The 6’6″ forward saw less average ice time than a year ago, and before his send-down was getting just a handful of shifts.
Selected 91st overall in 2019, Protas hasn’t quite developed the offensive touch that the team had hoped for but is a reasonably reliable option to stick in the bottom six. He still doesn’t use his massive frame all that effectively (or at least all that aggressively), but has generated positive possession results so far, even in tough deployments.
Whether he gets into the lineup right away remains to be seen, as the Capitals head out on the road for three games. They’ll take on the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow night before having a pair of tough matchups in Vegas and Colorado to follow.
Mike Matheson Activated From Injured Reserve
January 17: The Canadiens have now activated Matheson off injured reserve, according to CapFriendly. The move came in time for him to return to action tonight against the Winnipeg Jets.
January 13: The Montreal Canadiens have been without Mike Matheson for most of this season. After suffering an abdominal strain in October that sidelined him for more than a month, he found himself injured again in December. He’s totaled just ten games for this new team this season, and just one in the last month.
Despite that, the 28-year-old defenseman has six points, which still ties him with Joel Edmundson and Jonathan Kovacevic, two of the team’s regular defensemen. He’ll be able to add to that total soon, as he donned a regular jersey at practice today, suggesting he has been cleared for contact. The veteran defenseman will add some stability to the back end when he returns, and give the team another supporting option for their young group.
For Matheson himself, there are some milestones to chase. He is six assists away from 100 for his career, and needs the same amount of points to hit 150. He won’t be able to reach 500 games after missing so many, but getting on the ice and back in shape is important, even if the Canadiens aren’t competing for the playoffs. Remember, Matheson is signed through the 2025-26 season, meaning he’ll still be around as Montreal starts turning the corner on their rebuild.
That is of course unless he’s flipped – which is also not completely out of the question. Defensemen with elite skating ability, offensive upside, and experience logging big minutes are difficult to find, and at a $4.875MM cap hit, Matheson may actually be an interesting target. He’s still on the right side of 30 and has found his game again after some struggles a few years ago. It might not be this year, but the Canadiens could be presented with an opportunity to flip him for some additional future assets, should he be able to stay healthy and productive.
Washington Capitals’ Nic Dowd To Miss Time
In the midst of a defensively excellent season, there will be a significant setback for Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd. Head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters today that Dowd “will be out a while” as he undergoes evaluations on a lower-body injury.
Dowd sustained the injury last night, leaving after just two shifts against the New York Islanders. It’s his second lower-body injury this season, as one earlier caused him to miss a December 17 contest against Toronto. It’s unclear if the two are related.
The Alabama product has been a consistent fourth-line pivot since joining the Capitals in 2018. He has ten goals and 19 points in 44 games this season and continues to be a cornerstone presence defensively for Washington’s forwards.
He’s added more points this season, though, and is on a solid pace to break his career-high mark of 24, set last season. Lars Eller will have to do a lot of heavy lifting defensively in Dowd’s absence, and getting the legendary Nicklas Backstrom back in the fold recently eases the loss.