Minor Transactions: 12/18/21
It was another day of a string of unfortunate events in the NHL, with the unofficial number of players on COVID protocol reaching over 100. There were some other items of note from the other side of the pond, however, as two players who recently had their contracts mutually terminated have officially found their new homes overseas.
- Andreas Borgman, who was with the Dallas Stars on a two-way deal until it was terminated earlier this week, won’t be back in the NHL anytime soon. The former Star, Maple Leaf, and Lightning defender signed a deal with Frolunda HC of the SHL through the 2025-26 campaign. Considering Borgman will be 30 at the end of the deal, an NHL return is unlikely for the undrafted Swedish defender. He had three goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 55 career NHL games.
- After being drafted in 2019 by the Montreal Canadiens, Arsen Khisamutdinov is heading back to the KHL with Dinamo Riga. Khisamutdinov’s deal was terminated last week after notching just one point in 15 AHL games last year and getting assigned to the ECHL this year. Khisamutdinov had three points in 31 games during his last KHL stop with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk.
Filip Zadina Placed In COVID Protocol
The Detroit Red Wings placed forward Filip Zadina in COVID-19 protocol prior to their game Saturday against New Jersey, per a team tweet.
In his absence, the team will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Zadina has just four goals and six assists in 30 games this year but is shooting at an uncharacteristically low 5.6% rate. The 22-year-old forward is still developing and is expected to be a big part of this Detroit team in the future as they regain relevancy.
With Zadina out, Detroit now has six players on the COVID list — forwards Carter Rowney, Givani Smith, Michael Rasmussen, and Robby Fabbri, as well as netminder Alex Nedeljkovic.
The team was already stretched thin at the forward position with Taro Hirose and Riley Barber making their season debuts tonight.
Canadiens Add Lehkonen To Protocol, Place Armia, Perreault On Injured Reserve
The Montreal Canadiens made a slew of roster moves today, adding Artturi Lehkonen to the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol and placing Joel Armia and Mathieu Perreault on injured reserve, per a team tweet.
Armia is out with an undisclosed injury after being a game-time decision on Thursday. He’s been in and out of the lineup this month with an undisclosed ailment and has just five points in 29 games this year. He signed a four-year extension worth $3.4MM with the team this past offseason.
Perreault was classified as day-to-day with a lower-body injury on Thursday. He has three goals (a hat-trick) and an assist in 14 games this year, battling an eye injury early in the season.
Both Armia and Perreault are ineligible to play until after the holiday break.
Lehkonen is the only Canadien officially on COVID protocol. Through all 31 games this year, he had four goals and seven assists.
Montreal will likely have to make some recalls, as these transactions leave them with just 10 active forwards on the roster.
Toronto Maple Leafs Place Five In COVID Protocol
The Toronto Maple Leafs tweeted today that defensemen T.J. Brodie and Travis Dermott, goalie Jack Campbell, head coach Sheldon Keefe, and assistant coach Spencer Carbery entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol.
The team now has nine players on the list. Captain John Tavares, as well as Alexander Kerfoot, Wayne Simmonds, and Jason Spezza, were added earlier in the week.
After seeing a back-to-back set of games against Vancouver and Seattle postponed this weekend, the team was originally scheduled to return to play on Thursday, December 23 against St. Louis. Understandably, that’s now in jeopardy as their list of COVID cases expands.
Matters are made worse in the organization due to a COVID outbreak on their AHL team. The Toronto Marlies have over 10 cases and are officially considered an outbreak, severely limiting any possible recalls.
If their game against St. Louis is postponed, Toronto will return to action on December 27 against Columbus.
COVID Notes: Sundqvist, Flames, Protocol, World Juniors
The Blues have placed center Oskar Sundqvist in COVID protocol, per a team release. It has been a tough year for the 27-year-old who missed 14 games at the beginning of the season due to a knee injury and Sundqvist has struggled to produce when he is in the lineup, collecting just a goal and three assists in 16 games. St. Louis had been carrying an extra forward on their active roster so they won’t necessarily have to bring anyone up from AHL Springfield to cover for Sundqvist’s absence which will last for at least the next ten days.
Other COVID news from around the hockey world:
- The Flames announced (Twitter link) that they did not have any positive tests among their players or staff yesterday. That’s certainly notable considering that they have 19 players and 13 staff in COVID protocol at the moment and this is the first day since Sunday that they didn’t have a single positive test among their group. Calgary has had their games postponed through the holiday break although it wouldn’t be surprising if another game or two get postponed after it to allow some of their players to have a chance at being ready to return after serving their quarantine period.
- The NHL and NHLPA jointly announced a return of the enhanced COVID protocols through at least January 7th. Among the highlights are daily testing, a reduction of in-person meetings, and dining restrictions. The full document can be found here.
- As a result of the recent increase in positive tests, Hockey Canada announced that the first four days of World Junior pre-tournament games have been cancelled. Originally, each country was supposed to play in at least two exhibition contests but that won’t happen now. There remains a possibility for pre-tournament contests to be held on December 23rd and 24th.
Boston Bruins Place Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar In COVID Protocol
The Boston Bruins announced today via a team release that forwards Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
The news comes a few hours after the league announced that the Bruins and Nashville Predators will be shut down through the holiday break. Boston is already dealing with a long list of COVID absences that includes Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Craig Smith, and Jeremy Swayman, as well as three other players and two staff members.
Boston’s next game is scheduled for Monday, December 27, against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are 7-2-1 in their past ten games and winners of six straight.
Hall hasn’t exactly struggled in his first full year in a Bruins uniform, but he hasn’t performed up to the level he showcased in a 16-game stint last season after Boston acquired him at the trade deadline from the Buffalo Sabres. He has 14 points through 26 games, the same amount he had in just 16 with Boston last year.
Lazar was also acquired in that trade with Buffalo, and he’s reprising his role in the bottom-six forward group. He missed some time at the beginning of the season but had been playing consistently when healthy. He has two goals and three assists for five points through 20 games while averaging a reasonable 12:05 per game.
If both Hall and Lazar are confirmed positives, and there are no further postponements, their status for the game against Pittsburgh remains in doubt.
Metropolitan Notes: Flyers, Shesterkin, Nemeth, Hurricanes
The Flyers announced that they’ve placed Max Willman and a staff member in COVID protocol. The 26-year-old has been a feel-good story for Philadelphia this season as he made his NHL debut this season and has chipped in with two goals and an assist in a dozen games. Willman was originally drafted by Buffalo back in 2014 but didn’t sign. He becomes the second Flyer currently in COVID protocol joining center Morgan Frost.
Meanwhile, goaltender Carter Hart will be unavailable for tonight’s game against Ottawa due to an undetermined illness. The team announced (Twitter link) that Felix Sandstrom has been recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley to serve as Martin Jones’ backup. They will get some help on the injury front, however, as winger Joel Farabee will return to the lineup after missing the last seven games due to a shoulder injury. The 21-year-old has seven goals in 21 games so far this season.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin is ready to return from his lower-body injury as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been activated off injured reserve with Keith Kinkaid being returned to AHL Hartford in a corresponding move. The 25-year-old missed just over two weeks with the injury and had been off to a strong start to his season with a 2.05 GAA and a .937 SV% in 18 games. Kinkaid, meanwhile, picked up the victory on Wednesday against Arizona.
- From that same announcement, Rangers blueliner Patrik Nemeth has been placed in COVID protocol. The 30-year-old had played in all 30 of New York’s games to this point, recording two assists along with 57 blocked shots while logging just over 17 minutes per game. He’ll miss the next ten days.
- Carolina won’t be getting any help on the injury front for a little while as Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes’ team site relays (Twitter link) that winger Jordan Martinook and defenseman Jalen Chatfield aren’t close to returning from their respective lower-body injuries. Martinook has been out for a little more than two weeks and head coach Rod Brind’Amour acknowledged that the 29-year-old could start skating soon but still will need a fair bit of time before he’s able to come back. Meanwhile, Chatfield’s injury was more recent, sustained back on Sunday against his former team in Vancouver.
NHL Postpones Predators And Bruins Games Through Holiday Break, Postpones Three Other Games
As expected, there have been more postponements around the league as a result of the sharp increase in players testing positive for COVID-19. The league announced that the Bruins and Predators have had their games postponed through the holiday break while three other contests this weekend have been postponed including tonight’s Canucks-Maple Leafs contest. A full summary of the postponed games by team from today’s announcement is as follows:
Arizona: Dec. 19 at Vancouver
Boston: Dec. 19 at Ottawa, Dec. 21 vs Carolina, Dec. 23 vs Colorado
Nashville: Dec. 19 at Carolina, Dec. 21 vs Winnipeg
Seattle: Dec. 19 vs Toronto
Toronto: Dec. 18 at Vancouver, Dec. 19 at Seattle
Vancouver: Dec. 18 vs Toronto, Dec. 19 vs Arizona
These postponements come on the heels of Calgary, Colorado, and Florida all having their games postponed yesterday through the holiday break plus tonight’s Boston-Montreal contest. No games have been rescheduled at this time.
The NHL has a window to withdraw their participation from the upcoming Olympics as a result of the outbreak that has hit the league now and with five teams currently out of action plus the Senators and Islanders having missed games earlier this season due to COVID, it will be interesting to see if they’re able to reschedule all of those games without needing to use the three-week break for the Olympics. The NHL can withdraw without financial penalty if the decision is made January 10th or earlier.
Kings Place Cal Petersen In COVID Protocol
The Kings announced (Twitter link) a trio of roster moves on Saturday, headlined by the placement of goaltender Cal Petersen in COVID protocol. To replace him on the roster, Jacob Ingham was recalled from ECHL Greenville while defenseman Jordan Spence was sent back to AHL Ontario.
Petersen has gotten off to a fairly quiet start to his season, posting a 3.10 GAA along with a save percentage of just .893, numbers that are considerably worse than last season when his performance earned him a three-year, $15MM extension back in September that gets underway next season. As a result, he has been ceding starts to Jonathan Quick as of late with the veteran off to a stellar start to his campaign. It should be Quick’s net to run with through the holiday break at a minimum as a result of this news with Petersen set to miss at least ten days.
Ingham hasn’t been able to duplicate the success he had at the end of his OHL career in the pros and has spent the bulk of the season at the ECHL level for the second year in a row. His numbers with the Swamp Rabbits haven’t been the best either – a GAA of 3.28 with a .894 SV% in nine starts. However, promoting him allows the Kings to keep their AHL goaltending intact for the time being.
As for Spence, he was just recalled on Friday and heads back to the minors before even being on the roster for a single game. The 20-year-old is in his first professional year and has eight assists in 18 games with the Reign so far this season.
Fredrik Claesson Clears Waivers
Saturday: Claesson has cleared waivers, Friedman reports.
Friday: The Tampa Bay Lightning have placed Fredrik Claesson on waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The veteran defenseman cleared waivers earlier this season but has spent enough time on the NHL roster that he needed to again before being assigned to the AHL.
Claesson, 29, has really never been much more than an injury replacement at the NHL level, but seems to find his way into a handful of games each season. He’s suited up four times for Tampa Bay this year after splitting last season between the Lightning and San Jose Sharks. In his career, he has 165 NHL games and 28 points.
It seems unlikely he’ll be claimed this time around, though teams are desperate for roster players given some of the COVID situations. The fact that he makes just $750K against the cap is important for that kind of situation, and could lead to a desperation grab.