Snapshots: Sabres, Maccelli, Cooper
There’s no doubt that the Buffalo Sabres will be sellers once again at this year’s Trade Deadline, but there have been many questions posed about how many desirable assets the Sabres actually have. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta can report, though, that Buffalo is “taking calls” on a good portion of their defense core, including Colin Miller, Mark Pysyk, Robert Hagg, and Will Butcher, who are all pending unrestricted free agents. Miller and Pysyk especially have had good results this season, and could command at least a mid-round pick and pose as solid depth for contending teams. The team has also received interest in power-play specialist and pending restricted free agent Victor Olofsson, per Pagnotta. While it may seem surprising that the Sabres would currently be willing to deal a young forward, it looks like Olofsson’s inconsistency and poor defensive play are making the Sabres front office question his future with the team.
More notes from the league on a sleepy Thursday:
- Matias Maccelli, who’s torn up the AHL this season with the Tucson Roadrunners, is making his NHL debut tonight for the Arizona Coyotes and rightfully so. He’s not exactly a household name, even among prospect aficionados, but the organization is high on him, said general manager Bill Armstrong in a radio appearance today. He’ll come into the team’s training camp next season with the chance to start the season in the team’s top six. He’s getting a look there tonight, as well, lining up alongside Alex Galchenyuk and Phil Kessel for his NHL debut. Maccelli has 14 goals and 41 assists for 55 points in 42 AHL games.
- A relative rarity nowadays, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was ejected near the end of the second period from tonight’s game against Pittsburgh after getting into a verbal spat with referee Wes McCauley. It’s something to watch out for in the coming days, as the incident will likely be followed up with a fine from the NHL.
Oilers Place Ryan Nugent-Hopkins On IR, Activate Kyle Turris
The Edmonton Oilers have performed a roster swap of sorts, moving Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to injured reserve in order to activate veteran forward Kyle Turris, as per the team.
Nugent-Hopkins has already been on the shelf for about a week with an upper-body injury suffered on February 26th against the Florida Panthers, causing him to leave the game after just three shifts. It’s his second injury-related absence this season after a lower-body injury kept him out for most of January.
Turris, who has just a goal and three assists in 22 games this season, has played just one game since January 5th. He subsequently entered COVID protocol, played one game, and then suffered an undisclosed injury that’s sidelined him for around a month.
With Nugent-Hopkins still out of the mix for a little while yet, the team will need to rely more on wingers such as Kailer Yamamoto and Warren Foegele to up their production. Yamamoto has especially lagged in the points department this season, notching just 11 goals and nine assists in 53 games despite getting consistent top-six usage.
As the Oilers have been icing 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the past while, though, it’s a natural fit for Turris to potentially get his feet back under him with some game action.
Trade Deadline Primer: Anaheim Ducks
As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Anaheim Ducks.
The youth is here in Southern California, perhaps a bit earlier than planned. Jamie Drysdale, Trevor Zegras, and Troy Terry are just part of the young core that’s helped to spearhead the Ducks into the playoff conversation early in the season, although things have begun to fade recently. Sonny Milano and Isac Lundestrom have also made sizable contributions to the Anaheim lineup this year.
But Anaheim has stuttered in recent weeks, now under .500 in their last ten games and two points out of a playoff spot despite playing more games than everyone else. Now in battle with more experienced teams like Nashville, Dallas, and Edmonton, the Ducks simply aren’t in a position anymore to consider selling assets for a playoff run, if they ever were. How the Ducks and new general manager Pat Verbeek navigate the Trade Deadline in this stepping stone season could have big dividends for their future.
Record
26-21-9, (.545), fifth in Pacific Division
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$38,364,807 today, $55,628,970 in full-season space, 0/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: ANA 1st, ANA 2nd, ANA 4th, ANA 5th, TOR 5th, NSH 6th
2023: ANA 1st, ANA 2nd, ANA 3rd, ANA 4th, ANA 5th, ANA 6th
Trade Chips
The name that likely jumps off the page for many NHL fans is defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who’s in the final season of a $5.21MM AAV deal and is a pending UFA. However, the Ducks do hope to extend Lindholm, so unless it becomes apparent in the next few weeks that an extension isn’t possible, he likely won’t be moved.
One forward who could likely get shipped out of town after many years of speculation is Rickard Rakell. He’s also a pending UFA with a cap hit of $3.79MM, an extremely reasonable hit for Rakell, who has 15 goals and 26 points in 46 games this season. He would provide great middle-six depth for any team looking to add another scoring winger to their lineup, and with Anaheim’s breadth of forward prospects, he may not really fit into their long-term plan at this point.
There’s also Nicolas Deslauriers, who was nearly a Pittsburgh Penguin at last year’s trade deadline. Now a pending UFA as well with a $1MM cap hit, the gritty fourth-line checking winger is the type of player playoff teams salivate over to complete their lineup. He has nine points in 53 games this season.
There’s also the question of captain Ryan Getzlaf, who’s again a pending UFA after signing a one-year deal to remain in Orange County. He’ll likely control his own destiny, but if he wants to chase another Stanley Cup in what could be his last season, Anaheim would likely oblige.
Defenseman Josh Manson is definitely another trade candidate and another pending UFA. One of the better defensive defensemen in the league, he can handle top-four minutes with ease and can play a bruising game. But he’s on the shelf right now with an injury, and it’s uncertain whether he’ll be healthy before the Trade Deadline. If he’s not, he can’t be moved while on injured reserve.
Team Needs
1) Defense Prospects — Anaheim’s starting to get good things out of their young defensemen like Drysdale and Josh Mahura. But the team’s prospect pool remains top-heavy as players like Jacob Larsson begin to flame out. The team’s best defensive prospect right now is likely Jackson LaCombe out of the University of Minnesota, and while he’s solid, they could use another piece or two like him to help round out their list of prospects. If teams are willing to part with players instead of draft picks in any deadline deals Anaheim makes, they’d do best to shoot for a ‘D’.
2) More Draft Picks — The Ducks only have six selections in each of the next two drafts, trading away their 2022 3rd for an additional 2021 3rd last year and trading away their 2023 7th for Alexander Volkov, who has since departed the organization. The team should definitely be in a contending position in three or four years at this trajectory, and they’ll need more players from these upcoming drafts to step into the lineup on cheap, entry-level deals as they begin to spend to the salary cap again.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Carolina Hurricanes To Host Washington Capitals In 2023 Stadium Series
After a long series of COVID-related postponements and cancellations, the Carolina Hurricanes will finally be hosting their long-rumored first outdoor game. The NHL issued a press release today stating that Carolina will host the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, on February 18, 2023.
Carolina was originally supposed to host the 2021 Stadium Series game, but the league made the decision to postpone it prior to the start of the season in December of 2020 as the threat of COVID still loomed largely. General manager Don Waddell then reached a mutual agreement with the NHL prior to the 2021-22 campaign to hold the game off again until 2023 to ensure that the game would be played in front of a full house of fans.
For Washington, it’s their fourth outdoor game in franchise history. They’ve yet to lose outdoors, defeating Pittsburgh in the 2011 Winter Classic, Chicago in the 2015 Winter Classic, and Toronto in the 2018 NHL Stadium Series.
It marks the second season in a row that the Stadium Series has gone to a southern U.S. market.
Snapshots: Archibald, Reimer, Mantha
Josh Archibald has not played a single game at any level this season but is in Edmonton skating after dealing with myocarditis. Mark Spector of Sportsnet sent out a string of tweets today updating the depth forward’s status, including confirming that Archibald is still unvaccinated.
Because of how difficult that makes it for him to play with the Oilers or go on a conditioning loan to the Bakersfield Condors due to cross-border travel, Spector expects Archibald to be traded to a U.S.-based team at some point and suggests his time as an Oiler is effectively over. The 29-year-old forward is a pending unrestricted free agent in the second season of a two-year contract that carries a $1.5MM cap hit. He scored seven goals and 13 points in 52 games last season.
- James Reimer is considered out week-to-week according to head coach Bob Boughner, who spoke with Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Reimer’s injury further explains why the San Jose Sharks traded for–and subsequently recalled from the AHL–Alex Stalock. Adin Hill is still out with an injury, though Boughner explained that the goaltender “felt good” this morning. Losing Reimer is a pretty hefty blow to the Sharks’ fortunes, as the veteran netminder was having a nice bounce-back season and has a .916 save percentage in 34 appearances.
- Peter Laviolette wouldn’t confirm whether the Washington Capitals would have Anthony Mantha back in the lineup tonight, but he has been activated from injured reserve. Should he play, it would be his first game since leaving a match against the Florida Panthers on November 4 and just his 11th of the season. The 6’5″ forward had six points in his first ten games before going down and could be a trade deadline-like addition for the scuffling Capitals.
Buddy Robinson Clears Waivers
March 3: Robinson has cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the minor leagues.
March 2: The Anaheim Ducks have placed Buddy Robinson on waivers today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. This is his second time on waivers in 2021-22, after clearing just before the start of the regular season.
Given that Robinson, 30, has played in 23 games for the Ducks this season, he needed to go on waivers again before heading to the minor leagues. The 6’6″ winger doesn’t play much, but you notice him when he’s out there for Anaheim, racking up hits and generally imposing his will on the opposition physically.
Robinson has even set a career-high with four points this season, taking his total to seven through 44 NHL games. He also has two fighting majors and 43 hits, while averaging fewer than ten minutes a night.
If a team is looking for some size, he can certainly fill that role, but with a limited amount of upside at the NHL level and a whopping $400K minor league guarantee, it seems unlikely that a team would want to nab Robinson at this point. He is much more valuable in the minor leagues, which any claiming team wouldn’t be able to send him until getting him through waivers themselves.
Edmonton Oilers Extend Seth Griffith
After issuing several contracts to minor league talent yesterday, the Edmonton Oilers have locked up another big part of their Bakersfield Condors roster. Seth Griffith has signed a two-year, two-way contract extension, that will keep him in the organization through the 2023-24 season. As reported by PuckPedia late last night, the financial terms are as follows:
2022-23: $750,000 NHL salary, $450,000 AHL salary
2023-24: $775,000 NHL salary, $450,000 AHL salary
Griffith, 29, has been a top minor league contributor for years, and is having a career year this season for Bakersfield. In 40 games he has scored 20 goals and 52 points, good enough for fourth (tied) in league scoring. He still hasn’t made an impact at the NHL level–playing in just a single game this season–but Griffith is a huge part of the success that the Condors have experienced and will now represent a potential minor league All-Star addition for two more years.
While this won’t help the Oilers directly, there has been a big push to make sure that the minor league affiliates are successful enough to help prospects develop in a winning environment. The Condors were the best team in the AHL’s shortened 2020-21 season and are having another strong campaign, going 22-13-9 so far, good enough for third place in the Pacific Division by points percentage.
Griffith joins Dmitri Samorukov, James Hamblin, and Vincent Desharnais as players who have signed recent contracts with the team, while Alex Stalock was also sent out of town last night. It’s been a busy stretch for Oilers GM Ken Holland and AGM Keith Gretzky, who also serves as the GM of the Condors.
Jonathan Toews, Tyler Johnson To Return For Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are getting a whole bunch of reinforcements tonight. Jonathan Toews, Tyler Johnson, Calvin de Haan, and Riley Stillman will all return, as Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago reports. Henrik Borgstrom and Erik Gustafsson will sit, while Alec Regula was returned to the minor leagues earlier today.
While de Haan wasn’t technically on injured reserve, the other three were, with Johnson not playing since the end of October. The 31-year-old forward underwent the same artificial disk replacement surgery that Jack Eichel did, and will be playing in just his ninth game of the season. Toews meanwhile has been out since January dealing with a concussion issue. His return will hopefully come with a resurgence offensively, as the Blackhawks captain was able to score just four times through his first 43 games.
That has been a huge part of why the team has struggled this season, and the future for Toews is now very murky. He missed all of 2020-21 with Chronic Immune Response Syndrome, and now seems a shell of the player that was an annual Selke and Hart trophy candidate. With new Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson indicating that a rebuild is coming for Chicago, and Toews having just one year left on his contract, it’s hard to envision him playing there for many more seasons unless he can really find his game at some point. Only 33, (34 in April) getting back on the ice tonight will be a good start.
In de Haan specifically, his return represents a very different situation. The 30-year-old defenseman is on an expiring contract and could be a nice trade deadline piece for the Blackhawks if he can show he’s healthy and relatively effective over the next few weeks. In 48 games this season he has just five points, but a physical defenseman who can play both sides and penalty kill will always be sought-after at the deadline.
Stillman meanwhile is potentially a piece for the future, as the 23-year-old signed a three-year $4.05MM contract extension last spring. In 28 games this season he actually has ten points, despite averaging fewer than 15 minutes a night. If players like de Haan are moved out at some point, the opportunity for a player like Stillman should be increased.
AHL Shuffle: 03/03/22
It’s another matchup of first and last this evening, as the Colorado Avalanche take on the Arizona Coyotes. Yes, the Coyotes are 52 points behind the Avalanche in the standings, but that didn’t matter the last time these two teams met. On February 1, Alex Galchenyuk was the only successful shooter to give Arizona a 3-2 shootout victory over the powerhouse Colorado squad, a game the Avalanche have surely not forgotten, as it ended a home win streak at 18. As they and other teams around the league prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.
Atlantic Division
- The Ottawa Senators have returned Scott Sabourin to the AHL, after activating him off injured reserve. Sabourin hasn’t played in more than a month and will have to get some minor league action in before he’s ready to help Ottawa.
- The Detroit Red Wings have activated Riley Barber from injured reserve and assigned him to the minor leagues. The 28-year-old forward has appeared in just two games for Detroit this season, spending most of his year with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Metropolitan Division
- Zach Fucale is on his way back to Washington, recalled by the Capitals today after Ilya Samsonov was forced to leave practice yesterday. If Samsonov–who took a shot up high and left early–is unable to play, it would likely be Vitek Vanecek making his second start since returning from injured reserve. The Capitals take on the Carolina Hurricanes this evening, trying to snap a three-game losing streak.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have sent Isaac Ratcliffe back to the AHL, which could suggest Kevin Hayes is ready to return to action. Ratcliffe, 23, appears to be one of the bright spots for Flyers fans to focus on, with four points in ten games this season. The 6’6″ forward is hard to miss when he’s on the ice, though he did receive fewer than eight minutes of action in his last game.
- The New York Rangers have recalled Tim Gettinger, moving Kevin Rooney to injured reserve in the process. Gettinger, 23, hasn’t seen NHL action since mid-January and has just 13 games in total since making his debut in the 2018-19 season.
Central Division
- Alec Regula has been returned to the AHL by the Chicago Blackhawks, where he can continue his strong minor league campaign. The 21-year-old defenseman looks like he will be a part of the Chicago blueline for a long time when he eventually makes the full-time jump, but for now is still focused on development. In 25 games for Rockford, the 6’4″ Regula has 17 points.
Pacific Division
- The Seattle Kraken have returned Kole Lind to the minor leagues, despite his strong play last night in a win over the Nashville Predators. Lind recorded his second NHL point and generated five shots on goal, but will have to wait patiently for his next opportunity.
This page will be updated throughout the day
San Jose Sharks Acquire Alex Stalock
Another goaltender was dealt for future considerations last night, as Alex Stalock is now on his way to the San Jose Sharks from the Edmonton Oilers. The veteran netminder was originally not expected to play at all this season after being diagnosed with myocarditis but has now appeared in five games for the Bakersfield Condors.
Stalock, 34, actually has a long history with the Sharks. Drafted 112th overall by the team in 2005, he suited up 62 times for San Jose over parts of five seasons. That included an incredible rookie run in 2013-14 when he posted a .932 save percentage in 24 appearances, even getting into three postseason games when Antti Niemi struggled in the playoffs. It’s been years since he was part of the Sharks organization though, leaving them in 2016 when he was part of the deal that brought James Reimer over from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After a few seasons in Minnesota, Stalock was actually claimed off waivers by the Oilers in the 2020-21 season, but never appeared for the club at the NHL level. His future is relatively unclear at this point, though it has been good to see him back on the ice after many ruled him out completely. In five appearances with the Condors, he has a 3-1 record and a .862 save percentage.
For the Oilers, there were already enough goaltenders in the system to fill out the minor league spots, with Stuart Skinner obviously needing the most playing time whenever he’s in the AHL. In San Jose meanwhile, the Sharks are dealing with an emergency recall of Zachary Sawchenko while Adin Hill deals with injury, meaning Stalock may actually get a look in the NHL if healthy enough to do so.