Minor Transactions: 11/12/22
It’s been an eventful day throughout the NHL so far with plenty more to come. Several games took place this afternoon, including Claude Giroux‘s return to Philadelphia with much more continuing into tonight. The Toronto Maple Leafs honored legendary defenseman Borje Salming in a touching tribute before taking on the struggling Vancouver Canucks, both teams looking to make a statement. Meanwhile, down in New Jersey, the Devils look to make it nine in a row against the Arizona Coyotes, but will have to do so without their top three goaltenders.
Even with the exciting day in the NHL, there are a few other moves worthy of reporting and we’ll keep track of them here:
- Anaheim Ducks forward Sam Carrick, who had been loaned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, on a conditioning loan back on November 1st, appears to have been recalled by Anaheim. Although unconfirmed, the AHL’s transactions page lists Carrick as recalled on today’s date, seeming to be a good bet the veteran forward will be rejoining the Ducks soon. The forward has been recovering from left hip surgery he had back in May, and wasn’t expected to rejoin the team until sometime in November. Carrick signed a two-year, $850,000 AAV extension with the Ducks after playing a career-high 64 games in 2021-22.
- The Grand Rapids Griffins have returned forward Trenton Bliss on loan to the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL. Bliss, 24, is playing in only his second professional season, finishing up a four-year stay at Michigan Tech last season, where he had 40 points in 36 games. Bliss didn’t record a point over his four games with Grand Rapids, but does have a goal and an assist in three games for Toledo.
- The Belleville Senators have recalled goaltender Logan Flodell from his loan to the Allen Americans of the ECHL. A longtime veteran of the WHL, Flodell moved on to Acadia University for the 2018-19 season, where he played parts of three seasons before turning pro at the end of 2021-22. The 25-year-old played in three games with Belleville last year in addition to 19 ECHL games split between the Reading Royals and South Carolina Stingrays. This season, Flodell has played just three games in net for Allen, posting a .909 save-percentage and 2.70 goals-against.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Devils Notes: Trade Deadline Plans, Bratt, Ruff, Holtz, Bahl
October 24th, at home against the Washington Capitals. That is the last time the New Jersey Devils lost a hockey game. The loss brought the team to 3-3-0 on the season, not ideal, but on the heels of a three-game win streak, things appeared to be looking up despite the loss. Fast forward nearly three weeks and the team finds itself 11-3-0, riding an eight-game win streak heading into tonight’s matchup at home agains the Arizona Coyotes. The team’s recent play now has many believing the rebuilding Devils are finally back to the elite squad they were for much of the 1990’s and 2000’s and that has, in turn, made many wonder what the team’s plans are shaping up to be for the trading season. NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky sat down with Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald to discuss that topic and several others.
On making trades and the deadline itself, Fitzgerald said he’d like to see more and to evaluate where the team stands after 20 games and 40 games. The veteran executive added that he prefers to build his teams through the offseason rather than through the trade deadline. Still, Fitzgerald didn’t rule out the possibility of trading assets for rentals, but made clear that would have to be dependent on the team’s situation at the time. As Fitzgerald says, “[i]f I can make a hockey trade that improves our club, then yeah, I’ll explore that.”
- On star winger Jesper Bratt, who is currently signed to a one-year, $5.45MM contract that will leave him a RFA this offseason, Fitzgerald disagrees with the common labeling of the pact as a “prove it” deal. The GM explained that the negotiation this summer was challenging, but that both sides were interested in a long-term agreement. The one-year deal made sense, given a looming arbitration hearing that likely both sides wanted to avoid and perhaps still far apart in negotiations, an amicable agreement such as this one that gets the job done and allows negotiations to start up again this winter, would be a wise one for team and player. In fact, Fitzgerald reiterated his excitement to restart negotiations on a long-term deal come January. Through 14 games this season, Bratt has 18 points, a 105-point pace over 82 games.
- One topic Fitzgerald is hesitant to discuss is the contract status of head coach Lindy Ruff. During the dying minutes of New Jersey’s home opener loss to the Detroit Red Wings, fans at the Prudential Center began chanting for Fitzgerald to fire the coach, however that tone has of course changed. Still, Fitzgerald isn’t willing to make a move. The GM applauded the coach’s ability to have the team “explode offensively” just as his Dallas Stars teams were able to, but cautioned the eagerness to extend the veteran coach. Given the team’s rocky start, which came on the heels of two difficult seasons under Ruff, followed by an impressive stretch recently, it’s understandable why the organization would wait to make a decision on the future of their coach.
- Finally, Fitzgerald and Novozinsky discussed the playing time of prospects, namely forward Alexander Holtz and defenseman Kevin Bahl, who have played four and three games this year, respectively. Fitzgerald explained his reasoning for keeping the pair on the roster despite being able to send both to the AHL, where they could play more regularly, saying that he would like them to be able to adjust to the pace of the NHL game, which they can get in practice. In other words, Fitzgerald explained that he believes both are better off practicing regularly in the NHL than playing regularly in the AHL. The executive made clear that this decision was one made with the development of both players in mind.
Injury Notes: Murray, Bowers, Red Wings, Capitals, Kravtsov
When the Toronto Maple Leafs elected to overhaul their goaltending group this offseason, the biggest question aside from rebound performances from Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov, would be health. Thus far, the team has seemingly received a positive answer when it comes to performance from both goaltenders, but health has been an issue. Murray found himself on LTIR with an abductor injury after just one game and last weekend, Samsonov found himself on IR with a knee injury suffered on a Brad Marchand penalty shot. After the emergency signing of AHL netminder Keith Petruzzelli, the team has relied on Erik Kallgren to shoulder the load while waiting for one of Murray or Samsonov to return.
Earlier today, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe provided a brief update on Murray when he spoke with the media, including The Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan. Per Keefe, Murray is doing well physically and has even been cleared to play. However, Keefe says, Murray is not quite ready to return, with the organization’s performance team waiting to see a few more things before they believe he can return to game action. Although Murray’s return can’t come soon enough for Toronto, assuring the netminder is 100% ready for game action is key. Even if he’s completely healthy, as he appears to be, Murray has been out of game action for a month, a considerable amount of that time spent not receiving the daily work and repetition necessary to be a competitive NHL goaltender. Had Murray been rushed, Toronto might find itself with a healthy Murray, but not the one they need.
- It’s been a long road for forward Shane Bowers between being a first-round pick in 2017 and his NHL debut on Thursday night, and unfortunately, he’ll have to wait a while longer to play in NHL game number two. The 23-year-old suffered an upper-body injury after just 1:46 of time-on-ice Thursday and is now out long-term. According to Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now, who spoke to Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, Bowers is expected to miss six weeks. The injury is surely a tough break for Bowers both physically and mentally, however after several years of sub-par performance that interrupted his development, he had been off to a strong start in 2022-23, recording six points in ten AHL games. That performance, combined with his once-high prospect status is something the Avalanche will surely keep in mind as he works his way back.
- The Detroit Red Wings have had themselves an up-and-down start to the season, currently holding a record of 7-4-3. While many had high hopes for the team after a busy offseason, their record through 14 games may be better than it seems given the team’s difficult injury issues early on. In fact, some of those injury woes may be resolving themselves shortly, says Michigan Live’s Answer Kahn. As Kahn writes, rookie forward Elmer Soderblom, who missed Thursday’s game against the New York Rangers, is still considered day-to-day. Defenseman Jake Walman, who had shoulder surgery this offseason, is expected to return to the lineup and make his season debut at some point during Detroit’s four game road trip, which begins tonight in Los Angeles against the Kings and concludes a week from tonight against the Blue Jackets in Columbus. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who suffered a broken hand just two games into the season, is expected to return Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks.
- Despite placing him on IR just yesterday, Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov skated at optional practice this morning and will be joining the team on its upcoming road trip, says NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. Washington’s road trip begins tomorrow in Tampa Bay against the Lightning and concludes Thursday at the St. Louis Blues. Orlov, who was injured last Saturday, is eligible to come off of IR as soon as tomorrow, as the placement was back-dated to the injury, however it’s unclear what Washington’s plan is exactly. The team had placed Orlov on IR in order to make room for fellow defenseman John Carlson, who the team activated yesterday. Should they wish to activate Orlov, a corresponding roster move would be necessary. Not joining the Capitals on their trip is forward T.J. Oshie, who is on IR dealing with a lower-body injury.
- New York Rangers forward Vitali Kravtsov will not play tonight when the Rangers take on the Predators in Nashville. The forward is dealing with a stomach bug, reports Mollie Walker of the New York Post. Kravtsov, 22, has just one point in six games so far in his return to North America.
Central Notes: Greenway, Girard, Ehlers
After making his return to the lineup on Tuesday, Wild winger Jordan Greenway was scratched for a second straight game last night against Seattle. Head coach Dean Evason told reporters including Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press that Greenway has suffered a setback that will keep him out of the lineup a little longer. Greenway started the year injured, then was reinjured in his season debut last month, and now is banged up once more. Fortunately, Evason clarified that this setback isn’t as serious as last time and he is skating at least. There’s no timeline yet for when he might be able to return.
More from the Central:
- The Avalanche hope that blueliner Samuel Girard can resume skating today as he works his way back from a lower-body injury sustained earlier this week, relays Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has had a bit more limited usage than he has been accustomed to this season as his ATOI is down more than two and a half minutes from last year although he’s still logging over 19 minutes a night. With Bowen Byram also out of the lineup, the depth on Colorado’s back end is getting tested.
- While the Jets were hoping to have winger Nikolaj Ehlers back by now, he hasn’t started skating yet. Head coach Rick Bowness told Postmedia’s Paul Friesen that the 26-year-old hasn’t suffered a setback in his recovery but rather that it’s simply an abundance of caution from the medical staff. Ehlers has been one of Winnipeg’s top offensive performers over the last several years and his return would be a welcome addition to a team that sits 25th in the NHL in goals scored so far this season. However, it appears as if that return is still a little while away.
Lightning Claim Rudolfs Balcers Off Waivers
Rudolfs Balcers is staying in Florida. At least, he’s staying in the State of Florida as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Lightning have claimed the winger off waivers from the Panthers.
The 25-year-old signed a one-year deal with Florida this past summer after being bought out by San Jose despite putting up 11 goals and 12 assists in 61 games last season, all career highs. He had played in all 14 games for the Panthers this season, potting two goals and two assists despite logging a little under 11 minutes of playing time per game. However, the team needed to waive someone in order to create a spot for Aaron Ekblad to be activated off LTIR and the team decided that Balcers was the better choice between him and veteran center Eric Staal.
Florida will be at 12 forwards on the active roster once that move is officially made later today with one of those being Patric Hornqvist who has been injured for more than a week. However, the team confirmed (Twitter link) that the veteran will be able to return today, meaning the Panthers will be able to ice a full roster although they won’t have enough cap space to carry any spare players which could be problematic when injuries arise.
Balcers could immediately jump into Tampa Bay’s lineup with the team only previously carrying the minimum 12 forwards including youngster Cole Koepke who hasn’t produced much in the early going as he has been held off the scoresheet through his first dozen career NHL contests. Balcers would be an upgrade on Koepke on their fourth line, one that won’t have any significant cap effects since he’s signed at the league minimum with arbitration eligibility next summer. With the Lightning only being able to afford cheap pickups while making sure they can be cap-compliant for when Anthony Cirelli is able to come off LTIR, this pickup is certainly a worthwhile one, especially if he’s able to produce at the level he did last season with the Sharks.
East Notes: Kapanen, Hathaway, Maroon, Okposo
Kasperi Kapanen’s second stint with the Penguins has been bumpy, to put it lightly. He impressed in 2020-21 with 30 points in 40 games and it looked like he had finally become a consistent top-six winger. However, his per-game production slipped last year to the point where there were questions about whether or not he’d be tendered last summer by Pittsburgh. He ultimately was, inking a two-year, $6.4MM contract but has slid down the depth chart to the point where he has recently been a healthy scratch.
Accordingly, Dave Molinari of Pittsburgh Hockey Now argues that the time has come for the Penguins to part ways with the 26-year-old. Playing a limited role (or not playing at all) isn’t going to help his trade value so he suggests that waiving him is the next best course of action (assuming there isn’t a viable trade out there). If he clears, he’d get an opportunity to play a bigger role and perhaps rediscover his scoring touch while giving Pittsburgh a bit of cap flexibility ($1.125MM of his AAV would come off). At this point, with the alternatives being having him struggle or in the press box, it’s an option that GM Ron Hextall might be considering.
Elsewhere in the East:
- The Department of Player Safety announced that they’ve fined Capitals winger Garnet Hathaway $4,054 and Lightning winger Patrick Maroon $2,703 for unsportsmanlike conduct. Those amounts, which work out to 50% of their daily pay, are the maximum permitted in the CBA. The incident occurred during last night’s game during a review of the check to the head from Nicolas Aube-Kubel on Cal Foote; both players received a five-minute major and a ten-minute misconduct on the play.
- Sabres winger Kyle Okposo will miss tonight’s game against Boston, relays Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The captain is dealing with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. While the 34-year-old only has one goal in the early going, he’s tied for third on Buffalo with eight assists through 14 games. Jack Quinn will return to the lineup in Okposo’s place after being a healthy scratch on Thursday night.
Predators Recall Juuso Parssinen, Assign Jordan Gross To AHL
Juuso Parssinen’s strong start in the minors has earned him his first NHL opportunity as the team announced that they’ve recalled the forward from AHL Milwaukee. To make room for him on the roster, the Predators assigned defenseman Jordan Gross to the Admirals.
Parssinen is in his first full season in North America after getting a taste of AHL action late last season when he played in nine games during Milwaukee’s playoff run. The 21-year-old is tied for third in scoring for the Admirals with two goals and seven assists through his first ten games which is certainly appealing to a Nashville squad that has averaged just 2.71 goals per contest through their first 14 games this season while sitting 29th in power play percentage.
As for Gross, his demotion is a bit of a curious one. It’s not for a lack of production, as the 27-year-old has two goals in three games with the Preds this season while picking up seven points in six contests with Milwaukee. The move also leaves Nashville with just six healthy blueliners and 15 forwards on their active roster, a combination teams don’t like to stick with for long. Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Gross or another defender recalled in the coming days with a forward going down to balance things out a little.
Colorado Recalls Jayson Megna
With Shane Bowers suffering an injury early in his NHL debut on Thursday, the Avalanche needed to make a move to recall another forward for their game tonight against Carolina. That move has now been made as the team announced (Twitter link) that Jayson Megna has been recalled from AHL Colorado.
Megna is no stranger to being shuffled back and forth this season as this is already his fourth recall and has been sent back down within two days each time. Despite the limited time on the NHL roster, the 32-year-old has played in three games this season with the Avs already, logging 5:33 per contest on the fourth line. He also has three goals and three assists in nine games with the Eagles.
It’s worth noting that Colorado entered today with just $500K in LTIR space, per CapFriendly. Even though Megna’s on a league minimum contract, that’s not enough room to work him in. Accordingly, they had to transfer another one of their injured players to LTIR, joining Darren Helm who was recently put on there. Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin were the logical candidates on that front since both will miss the required minimum of 10 games and 24 days and CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that it is Landeskog that has been moved to LTIR.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety
Following an incident last night that saw Capitals winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel receive a match penalty (which carries an automatic suspension pending league review), the Department of Player Safety has announced (Twitter link) that Aube-Kubel will have a disciplinary hearing later today.
The incident occurred partway through their game against Tampa Bay when he hit Lightning defenseman Cal Foote in the head, a clip of the hit can be seen here. Foote left the game and did not return with head coach Jon Cooper telling reporters including Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link) that the blueliner is doubtful to suit up tomorrow against Washington in a rematch from last night. Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak both left Friday’s game as well after blocking shots so the Lightning’s back end is thinned out all of a sudden.
While Aube-Kubel doesn’t have any prior suspensions, he has been fined twice by the league back in January and October of 2021. He was claimed off waivers from Toronto last Saturday and has played in three games with his new team so far but he may have to wait a little while before he suits up in his fourth contest with Washington.
Devils Exploring Goaltending Options
Goaltending has been a position that has been in some flux for the Devils recently. The team struggled mightily between the pipes last season in large part due to injuries. Things were looking good early on this season but Mackenzie Blackwood is now hurt, Jonathan Bernier is still a long way from potentially returning, and Vitek Vanecek left Thursday’s game with an injury as well. Speaking with Ryan Novozinsky of the Newark Star-Ledger prior to that contest, GM Tom Fitzgerald indicated that they’re open to making a move when it comes to the goalie front.
We’ll explore anything and everything. If it makes sense to keep us from overworking certain goalies or if we prefer to keep our guys in AHL.
The good news for the Devils is that Vanecek made a brief appearance at practice Friday which bodes well for his short-term availability. But in the meantime, Akira Schmid finished up Thursday’s contest (picking up his first career victory) and is the short-term starter until Vanecek is cleared to come back. Blackwood is going to miss another three-to-six weeks with his MCL injury while there is no timeline for if or when Bernier might return as he works his way back from hip issues. Accordingly, if Fitzgerald wants Schmid back in the minors, he may have to look for another goalie.
The uncertainty with Bernier makes that idea a lot easier said than done. If they knew that the 34-year-old wouldn’t be back, they could comfortably spend most of his $4.25MM AAV which would give them ample space to add a capable veteran second netminder. However, since it’s possible he returns, they can’t really do that as they’ll need to be cap-compliant if Bernier is able to come off LTIR and suit up.
Accordingly, it’s possible that Fitzgerald turns to the approach he used last season and looks for a veteran depth option to serve as the backup, a move he made twice in 2021-22 when he added Jon Gillies and Andrew Hammond in separate swaps. Such a swap shouldn’t cost a lot in terms of acquisition cost and would involve a player that could be waived and come off the cap entirely, presenting no risk if Bernier is able to return. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Devils make a small move to add a little more goaltending insurance over the next little while.