AHL Shuffle: 11/08/21
It’s a very quiet Monday in the NHL, with just three games on the schedule. That does include the Florida Panthers, however, who are looking to stay perfect in regulation. The Panthers are 10-0-1 on the season, have the best goal differential in the league, and a six-point clearance on second place in the Atlantic Division. It’ll be up to the New York Rangers this evening to try and slow down that fast start. As they and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.
Atlantic Division
- The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Andrej Sustr from the minor leagues, who was only sent down a few days ago. Sustr has played in eight games for the Lightning this season, recording one goal.
Metropolitan Division
- The Carolina Hurricanes have officially recalled Alex Lyon from the minor leagues after Antti Raanta left with an injury on Saturday night. Raanta came out to play a puck and collided hard with Ryan Lomberg, but there has not yet been any confirmation on how long the goaltender will be out.
- The Washington Capitals have recalled Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, and he’s expected to make his NHL debut this evening. Coincidentally, it will come against the Buffalo Sabres, the team that claimed him and then put him back on waivers earlier this season.
- After he cleared waivers, the New Jersey Devils have assigned Marian Studenic to the AHL. With him is Frederik Gauthier, who is also headed to the minor leagues after playing eight games for the team this season. Gauthier cleared waivers at the start of the season but was never assigned to the AHL, meaning his clock is almost used up. Should he play in ten games or spend 30 days on the NHL roster, he would need to go through waivers again to be sent down.
Central Division
- The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled Reese Johnson from the AHL, bringing him back up after a few games in the minor leagues. The 23-year-old has yet to score in six appearances for the Blackhawks this season, and, in fact, is still waiting on his first NHL point overall.
- With Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar nearing a return, the Colorado Avalanche have sent Sampo Ranta to the AHL. Ranta has played ten games this season but doesn’t have an NHL point just yet.
- The Winnipeg Jets have sent Mikhail Berdin back to the AHL once again, recalling Kristian Vesalainen in his place. Berdin has now filled in a few times for the team, but still hasn’t actually appeared in a game. The 23-year-old has an .893 save percentage in six games at the AHL level this season.
Pacific Division
- The San Jose Sharks have recalled Artemi Kniazev, Joel Kellman, and Sasha Chmelevski from the AHL, giving them some extra bodies to work with. The Sharks are heading on a five-game road trip and won’t be back in San Jose until November 20.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Five Key Stories: 11/1/21 – 11/7/21
The beginning of November yielded quite a bit of activity around the NHL with the biggest ones being highlighted in the key stories of the week.
More Changes In Chicago: Blackhawks interim GM Kyle Davidson made a significant change in one of his first moves since being promoted as he fired head coach Jeremy Colliton along with assistants Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank. Taking over behind the bench is Derek King who will also carry the interim title but will remain in that role for the rest of the season. Chicago is off to a terrible start this season with a 1-9-2 record heading into Sunday’s contest so the move doesn’t come as much surprise. The team posted an 87-92-26 record under Colliton’s tutelage in his first stint behind an NHL bench. King now finds himself in the same situation as he looks to try to turn things around quickly.
Prospect Loans: A pair of notable prospects are heading overseas. Although William Eklund certainly looked like he belonged in the NHL with his early-season performance, the Sharks decided to send him back to Sweden for the remainder of the year. This is a move that’s primarily based on contractual control over his performance; Eklund now won’t burn the first year of his entry-level deal and will still have three years left on his deal and seven seasons of club control heading into 2022-23. Meanwhile, the Rangers assigned Vitali Kravtsov to Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL, allowing the prospect to resume playing. Kravtsov elected not to report to AHL Hartford after being sent down last month with a trade request following soon after. That clearly hasn’t happened and now, the 21-year-old will at least get to play and try to help boost his value around the league.
Eichel Traded: It’s over. After months of speculation, the Sabres traded center Jack Eichel along with a 2023 third-round pick to the Golden Knights for winger Alex Tuch, prospect center Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round pick, and a 2023 second-rounder. Eichel is now set to undergo artificial disk replacement surgery this week and will miss three-to-five months while recovering. The move gives Vegas the number one center they have been coveting, assuming that Eichel returns to full health. There will be cap complications to navigate through once Vegas is fully healthy and there is a cap crunch coming for next season and beyond. Meanwhile, Buffalo had to make a cap-related move of a different kind, acquiring the rights to Johnny Boychuk from the Islanders for future considerations. Boychuk’s playing days are over but his $6MM AAV will be on Buffalo’s books, keeping them over the cap floor. The trade appears to be relatively well-received on both sides with our readers assigning a ‘B’ grade for both teams.
Key Injuries: It was a tough week on the injury front for several teams who saw some key players land on injured reserve. Capitals winger Anthony Mantha is out indefinitely after undergoing shoulder surgery, a big blow for a team that’s already banged up when it comes to some of their top forwards. Meanwhile, Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine’s strong start has been put on hold as an oblique injury will keep him out for the next four-to-six weeks. Vegas, who has been hit harder than pretty much everyone on the injury front this season, suffered another blow as a broken foot for William Karlsson will put him on the shelf for the next six weeks.
Big Money For Fox: Rangers defenseman Adam Fox wasn’t slated to become a restricted free agent until July but he won’t be getting to that point as the 23-year-old instead signed a seven-year, $66.5MM contract extension. The reigning Norris Trophy winner set a new record for the richest contract given to a blueliner coming off their entry-level deal while his $9.5MM AAV puts him tied for the fourth-highest price among all NHL defenders starting in 2022-23. The price tag is certainly justifiable as Fox has quickly become one of the elite rearguards in the league and is off to another impressive start this season with a dozen points in as many games. Notably, New York gains an extra four years of club control on Fox, ensuring that he won’t be able to hit the open market until 2029 at the earliest.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Senators Place Nick Holden And Jack Capuano In COVID Protocol
The Senators have added to their COVID list as the team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Nick Holden and associate coach Jack Capuano have been placed into COVID protocol. Taking Holden’s place on the roster will be blueliner Erik Brannstrom who has been recalled from AHL Belleville.
Holden is in his first season with Ottawa and has played in all but one of their 11 games so far, recording an assist while averaging 17:35 per game of ice time, primarily on the third pairing. It’s his presence on the roster that played a role in Brannstrom being sent to the minors at the start of the season as having the 22-year-old as a healthy scratch with the Senators would hardly have been ideal from a development perspective. Brannstrom has a goal and two assists in nine games with AHL Belleville so far this season.
Capuano and Holden will join winger Austin Watson in the protocols after Watson was added there back on Friday and will be there for at least ten days. While some teams have had some cap challenges when players are added to the list, that won’t be the case for the Sens who will still have more than $12MM in cap room following Brannstrom’s promotion, per CapFriendly.
Snapshots: Dermott, Larkin, Bozak, Oshie
While Maple Leafs defenseman Travis Dermott has been in trade speculation over the past week or so, he doesn’t seem to be worried about it, telling TSN’s Mark Masters that he’s not too worried about it, referencing it’s not the first time he has been in speculation. Part of the rationale behind the idea he could move was for salary cap purposes although the injury to Petr Mrazek – which will keep him out long enough to be LTIR-eligible – lessens the need to make a move to free up cap room in the short term.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Red Wings center Dylan Larkin has returned to the team after missing the last three games due to unspecified personal reasons, relays Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. The 25-year-old is a welcome return having averaged a point per game through his first eight games while averaging nearly 18 minutes a night and playing in all situations.
- With Blues center Tyler Bozak suiting up tonight Anaheim, he triggers a $750K bonus in his contract, notes Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Those are supposed to be charged in the year they’re earned but a team can go over the cap with bonuses and take the charge the following season. Considering their current cap situation, the latter could be the case with Bozak, who still has three other bonuses in his deal, per CapFriendly.
- Capitals GM Brian MacLellan told Samantha Pell of the Washington Post that although winger T.J. Oshie is currently in a walking boot, he is expected to return to the ice in some capacity this week. That would certainly be welcome news for Washington which has been hit hard on the injury front with center Nicklas Backstrom and Anthony Mantha also out of the lineup at the moment.
Central Notes: Girard, Forsberg, Blues
Colorado has assembled an impressive back end, a group that has been bolstered by the return of Erik Johnson and the emergence of sophomore Bowen Byram. The 20-year-old has been strong enough this season that Mike Chambers of the Denver Post suggests that blueliner Samuel Girard could plausibly be made available if the Avalanche decide to try to add to their forward group between now and the trade deadline. Girard is signed through 2026-27 with a $5MM AAV, a reasonable price for someone that consistently logs over 20 minutes per game while chipping in a little offensively as well. If the Avs were to make the 23-year-old available, he’d garner plenty of interest around the league.
More from the Central Division:
- J.P. Barry, the agent for Predators winger Filip Forsberg, confirmed to Adam Vingan of The Athletic (subscription link) that there still have been no discussions on a possible contract extension with the veteran in the final year of his deal. While Forsberg has indicated a willingness to merely play the year out and see what happens after the season, Barry added that he does expect to have those contract talks at some point during the regular season. The 27-year-old is likely eyeing a raise on his current $6MM AAV but is currently out with an upper-body injury.
- While the Blues were hoping for some cap relief in their current COVID situation, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that they won’t be receiving any: “There is not currently an intention to provide cap relief for Covid-related reasons. No different than having to deal with multiple short-term injuries. St. Louis is not at all unique in having to navigate these waters.” St. Louis has had six different players enter the protocols in recent days and while they’ve managed to carry a minimum-sized roster, any other addition or injury will place them in a situation where they’ll have to play short a player for a game before becoming eligible for a cap-exempt recall.
Minor Transactions: 11/07/21
Today may not be a busy day on the NHL schedule, but it’s certainly been a hectic day on the transactions slate at all levels of the game. There was a lot of action today on the NHL to AHL wire, but there have been some other moves today, too. Keep up with today’s minor transactions here.
- New York Rangers goalie prospect Talyn Boyko was dealt in the WHL today from the Tri-City Americans to the Kelowna Rockets. Boyko was drafted in the fourth round in 2021, largely because of his massive 6′ 8″ frame. However, it’s been a rough start for Boyko with a 1-6-1 record and .887 save percentage on the season. Hopefully a move to Kelowna turns his fortunes around this season.
- Carolina Hurricanes netminder Beck Warm was re-assigned to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves from the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals, per the AHL transactions page. The move comes after Alex Lyon was brought up to Carolina today in the wake of Antti Raanta‘s injury Saturday, meaning Chicago needed another goaltender. Warm’s impressed in the ECHL with a 4-1-0 record and .921 save percentage to start the year.
Injury Notes: O’Reilly, Wild, Schenn
St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly is likely to return to the lineup Sunday night when they take on the Anaheim Ducks, per Blues writer Chris Pinkert. The 30-year-old center missed the team’s last four games while in COVID-19 protocol. He’s likely to return to top-line duties between David Perron as well as Brandon Saad, who’s also missed time while in COVID-19 protocol this season. Prior to departing the lineup, O’Reilly had five points in five games while averaging 19:13 of ice time per game.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- The Minnesota Wild activated both Mats Zuccarello and Rem Pitlick from COVID-19 protocol today, according to a team tweet. Zuccarello is the Wild’s most productive player this season in terms of points per game, notching three goals and four assists for seven points through six games. He returns playing on a unit with Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek. Pitlick, who was claimed off waivers from the Nashville Predators earlier in the season, only played one game before entering protocol. However, he did notch an assist in that game and should return to the lineup in a fourth-line role centering Brandon Duhaime and Kyle Rau.
- Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic reports Vancouver Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn could miss a couple of weeks with what Dhaliwal calls a “knee issue.” Schenn was absent from Vancouver’s practice Sunday. Schenn has two assists through five games this season, often serving as a healthy scratch.
Ottawa Senators Assign Filip Gustavsson To AHL
Per the Ottawa Senators communications department, the team re-assigned goalie Filip Gustavsson to the AHL’s Belleville Senators on Sunday.
The Senators have largely operated with a trio of netminders this season as starter Matt Murray‘s health has been an issue at multiple points already so far in the season. But as he returns to full health, the team has opted to send Gustavsson, who does not require waivers, to Belleville.
It’s worth noting that the team currently has an active roster of 22 players and could indeed carry a third goalie as a healthy scratch.
Gustavsson has performed the best out of Ottawa’s three netminders this season with a .911 save percentage through five games played. Neither Murray’s or Anton Forsberg‘s save percentage eclipses the .900 mark.
While many believe that the 23-year-old Swede has played himself into a backup or even starting role with Ottawa, the organization continues to value the positional depth, not willing to expose Forsberg to waivers in order to assign him to Belleville.
It’s highly likely that Gustavsson will return to the Ottawa roster at some point this season as he continues what’s been a strong development path since arriving in the Ottawa Senators organization.
Department Of Player Safety Fines Derick Brassard For Unsportsmanlike Conduct
The NHL Department of Player Safety today fined Philadelphia Flyers forward Derick Brassard $2,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct toward the Washington Capitals’ Garnet Hathaway during a game Saturday night, as announced today.
The play in question involved Brassard delivering a punch to Hathaway’s face while standing on the Flyers bench. Hathaway was on the ice. Brassard was given an interference penalty on the play.
Brassard has stepped up in a big way for the Flyers this season, scoring two goals and five assists for seven points in 10 games during his first season as a Flyer. Brassard has seen an elevated role in the absence of the injured Kevin Hayes, centering the team’s second line between Joel Farabee and Cam Atkinson.
The 34-year-old joined the team by signing a one-year, $825,000 contract on August 25. The Flyers are his sixth different team during the past four seasons. Brassard spent last season with the Arizona Coyotes, scoring just eight goals and 20 points, his lowest totals since his rookie season in 2007-08.
Blackhawks Won’t Hire New Coach Until Offseason
The Chicago Blackhawks removed Jeremy Colliton from his position as head coach yesterday, meaning they are now dealing with interim hires at the general manager and coaching positions. Kyle Davidson is serving as interim GM after Stan Bowman‘s resignation, while Derek King who had been with the Rockford IceHogs is taking over behind the bench for the time being. Today, both men spoke with the media and Davidson explained to reporters including Mark Lazerus of The Athletic that the organization will not hire a new coach until after this season is completed. He believes it will allow for a more thorough search, giving the Blackhawks access to all available candidates.
Davidson will add an assistant to the current coaching staff at some point, though he noted that King will be leaning heavily on Marc Crawford during this transition. Crawford was not let go with the rest of the previous staff.
The Blackhawks have gone through a complete overhaul to hockey leadership over the last few weeks and are now 1-9-2 on the season after another embarrassing loss on Friday night. The team has allowed 47 goals through their first 12 games, second only to the Arizona Coyotes for worst in the league. This comes after an offseason with several blockbuster acquisitions, including Seth Jones and Marc-Andre Fleury. Jones cost the organization a substantial package of future assets and was signed to an eight-year, $76MM contract by Bowman in July.
Davidson noted that he “is not Stan” and that there will likely be philosophical differences in how he runs the team moving forward. He has the support of ownership and full power of the general manager position, even if he is still carrying the interim tag for the time being.
Delaying the coaching search until the offseason means that King will have control of the Blackhawks for the remaining 70 games, his first NHL coaching opportunity. A veteran of more than 800 games as a player, King had been the head coach of the IceHogs since partway through the 2018-19 season, taking over when Colliton was promoted to the NHL job. He had previously been an assistant coach with the Toronto Marlies and Owen Sound Attack.