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Atlantic Notes: Maple Leafs, Luongo, Harvey-Pinard, Kastelic, Johnson, Mermis

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have been without captain Auston Matthews for almost two weeks with a lower-body injury. Sportsnet’s Luke Fox argued that Matthews’ prolonged absence has opened some eyes in Toronto regarding the team’s center depth.

Toronto essentially moved every center up a line with John Tavares and Max Domi manning the top two lines. Fox believes that the Maple Leafs must upgrade their third line, which has usually been centered by Domi this season. He’s only managed six assists in 18 games this season and hasn’t scored a goal in the regular since April 6th, 2024.

If general manager Brad Treliving concurs with the assessment the team will have some options available for trade. Fox lists Brock Nelson, Mikael Granlund, Frank Vatrano, Nick Bjugstad, and Jake Evans as the likeliest options for the Maple Leafs to pursue with the former being undeniably the best option.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • Earlier this week, Hall-of-Fame netminder Roberto Luongo met for an interview with former players Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette on the Spittin Chiclets podcast. In the interview, Luongo revealed that shortly after being acquired by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2006 offseason the Detroit Red Wings offered Luongo an offer sheet which would have been more than his eventual four-year, $27MM deal with the Canucks. The organization pivoted to veteran netminder Dominik Hasek who would help them capture their 11th Stanley Cup title a year later after being rejected by Luongo.
  • Eric Engels of Sportsnet reported that Montreal Canadiens forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard won’t return tonight but is close. Harvey-Pinard is continuing to recover from a broken leg that has put his start to the 2024-25 NHL season on pause. He hasn’t played meaningful hockey since last season scoring two goals and 10 points in 45 games for Montreal.
  • Boston Bruins forward Mark Kastelic left the team’s overtime loss against the St. Louis Blues today after skating in 5:18 of the action. Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe shared that Kastelic is expected to miss the next few days with a lower-body injury. Thankfully for Kastelic and the Bruins, the team doesn’t play again until their contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night meaning Kastelic could be an option.
  • One member of the Bruins organization who didn’t see any ice time this afternoon was veteran forward Tyler Johnson. Before puck drop, the team announced Johnson was out due to ’family reasons’ but would return to practice tomorrow. Johnson has gone scoreless in four games in Boston after signing a one-year contract with the organization two weeks ago.
  • Moving back to Toronto, defenseman Dakota Mermis skated this morning before practice according to David Alter of The Hockey News. Mermis, who has been on the team’s LTIR while recovering from jaw surgery, signed a one-year, $775K contract with the Maple Leafs this past offseason.

Avalanche Re-Assign Trent Miner, Alexandar Georgiev Out Day-To-Day

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11/16: Miner played 34 minutes of Colorado’s loss to the Washington Capitals last night and has been reassigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles per a team announcement. The Avalanche don’t have another game until Monday so Miner could return to the NHL level then.

11/15: The Avalanche announced Friday that they’ve recalled goalie Trent Miner from AHL Colorado. He’ll serve as the backup to Justus Annunen tonight against the Capitals. Alexandar Georgiev has been ruled out with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. The team also confirmed that forward Chris Wagner had been assigned to the AHL after clearing waivers, opening up the roster spot for Miner’s recall.

Miner, 23, will dress for an NHL game for the first time more than five years after the Avalanche selected him in the seventh round of the 2019 draft. The 6’1″ netminder has spent the last three seasons splitting time between the AHL and ECHL Utah, although he got upgraded to a full-time AHL role for 2024-25.

Miner is coming off somewhat of a breakout 2023-24 campaign. He cemented his spot on this year’s AHL roster during an 18-game call-up from the ECHL last season, during which he shut the door with a 2.10 GAA, .930 SV%, one shutout, and a 9-6-1 record. He was set to become a restricted free agent last summer, but the Avs inked him to a two-way extension in May.

So far this season, Miner has split AHL duties with offseason trade acquisition Kevin Mandolese. He’s been outplayed by the new guy but has still put up decent numbers, logging a 2.34 GAA, .905 SV%, and a 3-2-1 record in six games.

Meanwhile, the injury is unfortunate timing for Georgiev. The 28-year-old had been getting his feet under him after a disastrous start to the season and had started four games in a row, posting a strong .913 SV% over that stretch. He played all 60 minutes in Colorado’s last game against the Kings on Wednesday, so it’s unclear when he sustained the injury.

With a .863 SV% and -8.8 GSAA, Georgiev has still been quite underwhelming on the whole this season. The Bulgaria-born netminder didn’t receive a single Vezina Trophy last year despite leading the league with 38 wins due to his subpar .897 SV% and career-worst -11.9 GSAA.

Flyers Notes: Ristolainen, York, Drysdale

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After a rough showing last season, Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has been a much more impactful player in the early going this year, logging more than 20 minutes a night while chipping in with plenty of blocks and hits as usual.  Accordingly, some have wondered if he could become a trade candidate at some point.  Kevin Kurz of The Athletic relays (subscription link) that Philadelphia is fielding calls on the 30-year-old but they aren’t interested in just clearing out the remainder of his contract, one that carries a $5.1MM AAV through the 2026-27 campaign but haven’t formally set an asking price either.  Philadelphia has only used one of its three retention slots and could up the return by paying down part of the contract but it wouldn’t be surprising if a Ristolainen move happens closer to the trade deadline, if one happens at all this season.

More from Philadelphia:

  • Blueliner Cam York had a breakout season last year with 10 goals and 30 points and was off to a solid start this year before being sidelined with an upper-body injury. He’s in the final year of his bridge deal, one that carries a $1.6MM AAV.  However, Daily Faceoff’s Anthony DiMarco suggests the next contract will cost considerably more, noting that Devon Toews’ contract in Colorado could be a comparable for negotiations.  Toews is on a seven-year deal with a $7.25MM AAV though it should be noted that each season is a UFA-eligible one, something that won’t be the case for York who isn’t UFA-eligible until 2028.  Regardless, York is well on his way to a sizable raise next summer.
  • Defenseman Jamie Drysdale took part in today’s morning skate with a non-contact jersey, notes Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter link). The 22-year-old is currently on injured reserve with an upper-body injury but the placement was made retroactive to November 9th so he’ll be eligible to return once fully cleared.  Drysdale was off to a quiet start to his first full season with the Flyers as he had just three points in his first 15 games although his 20:35 ATOI is the highest of his career.

Kings Activate Alex Turcotte, Assign Andre Lee To AHL

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The Kings have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game today against Detroit.  The team announced that they’ve activated forward Alex Turcotte off injured reserve.  To make room for him on the roster, winger Andre Lee was assigned to AHL Ontario.

Turcotte was placed on IR a week ago today after sustaining an upper-body injury early in the month.  The 23-year-old is in his first full NHL season and has held his own in a limited role.  Turcotte has played in 13 games so far this season, picking up a goal and four assists while averaging just under 12 minutes a night in their bottom six.  For his career, he’s up to 45 appearances at the top level, tallying two goals and seven helpers.

As for Lee, he was an early-season recall and had been up with Los Angeles since then, spanning more than five weeks in total.  Along the way, he played a regular role in the lineup, collecting two assists and 32 hits in 15 games in 9:26 of playing time per game.  Those games were the 24-year-old’s first taste of NHL action.  Lee had eight goals and five assists in 38 games with the Reign last season, resulting in a one-year, two-way contract worth the league minimum of $775K with the Kings and $100K in the minors.

Notably, Lee’s assignment means that Samuel Helenius will remain with Los Angeles for now, at least.  He was brought up when Turcotte landed on injured reserve and it would have made sense for him to be the one who lost his spot with Turcotte returning.  Helenius has an assist, nine hits, and a 60% faceoff success rate in his first three games, earning himself a longer look in the process.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Los Angeles Kings

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Pacific Division, next up is the Kings.

Los Angeles Kings

Current Cap Hit: $90,180,114 (above the $88MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

D Brandt Clarke (two years, $863K)
F Alex Laferriere (one year, $875K)

Potential Bonuses
Clarke: $850K

Laferriere had a solid rookie season last year while spending a lot of time in the bottom six.  This year, he’s playing a little higher in the lineup and has responded by being one of their leading point-getters.  If that holds, his bridge deal (a long-term pact would be surprising) should run past $3MM per season at a minimum, potentially higher if he stays at his current pace.

After spending most of last season in the minors, Clarke is now a regular and an important part of the back end in Los Angeles.  He’s already putting up solid offensive numbers and that should continue which will only push his next contract higher.  A bridge agreement could be trending toward starting with a four if this holds while a longer-term pact could climb closer to $7MM.  Bonus-wise, Clarke has four ‘A’ bonuses in his deal at $212.5K apiece and at his current pace, he could have a shot at all four of them (assists, points, ATOI, and blocks).

Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level

D Andreas Englund ($1MM, UFA)
D Vladislav Gavrikov ($5.875MM, UFA)
F Tanner Jeannot ($2.65MM, UFA)
D Caleb Jones ($775K, UFA)
F Arthur Kaliyev ($825K, RFA)
F Andre Lee ($775K, RFA)
F Trevor Lewis ($800K, UFA)
G David Rittich ($1MM, UFA)

Jeannot was acquired from Tampa Bay over the offseason with the hope a change of scenery could re-spark his offensive game.  That hasn’t happened early on as he has spent some time on the fourth line.  At this point, there’s a possibility that he’s heading for a pay cut; while his 24-goal, 41-point season was only a few years ago, that looks like the outlier and teams might not want to pay up for that.  Kaliyev wanted a trade over the summer but one never materialized so he settled for a low-cost one-year deal and then was injured in training camp.  If there isn’t a trade to be found once he returns, Kaliyev could be a non-tender candidate in the summer where he’d likely have to settle for another low-cost deal in this range.

Lewis has been on a one-year deal around this price tag for five straight years now and remains a capable fourth liner.  If he wants to keep playing (he turns 38 in January), he should be able to continue that streak.  Lee is holding his own on the fourth line in his first taste of NHL action.  It’s likely that his next contract should be around the minimum but he could have a shot at a one-way agreement.

Gavrikov took an interesting approach in free agency two years ago, electing to sign an early extension to remain with Los Angeles but opting for a short-term agreement to allow him to hit the open market in a more favorable environment.  His offensive production hasn’t returned to the peak level he had in Columbus which will limit his upside to a point.  That said, he could make a case to land this much or slightly more on a long-term agreement, if not even a max-term one.  With several blueliners from this class already off the market, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Gavrikov wait this out a little longer to see if a dwindling market could help up his asking price.

Englund played a regular role on the third pairing last season but playing time has been harder to come by this time around.  He’s someone who might best fit in a seventh role so while another one-way contract could come his way, it might have to come in slightly lower than this one.  Jones spent time in the minors last season, leading to a two-way deal this time around.  With very limited playing time so far, he doesn’t seem to be trending toward beating that by much next summer.

Rittich did rather well after being recalled early last season but opted to take this deal in May over testing the open market.  He hasn’t fared as well early on this year, however.  Even so, he’s likely still in the higher-end third-string option or lower-end backup tier which should get him another deal in this range.

Signed Through 2025-26

D Kyle Burroughs ($1.1MM, UFA)
F Adrian Kempe ($5.5MM, UFA)
F Anze Kopitar ($7MM, UFA)
D Jordan Spence ($1.5MM, RFA)
F Akil Thomas ($775K, RFA)

This is the first season of Kopitar’s cheaper deal after making $10MM per season on the last agreement.  It’s supposed to reflect what should be a smaller role but that hasn’t been the case early in 2024-25 as he’s still an all-situations top-line center.  Now 37, there’s some risk in terms of his age but the early returns on this contract demonstrate this could wind up as a team-friendly agreement.  Another deal, if there is one, will likely reflect the expected lighter workload as well at that time.

Kempe turned the corner offensively in 2021-22 and hasn’t looked back since then, becoming a legitimate top-line threat.  While his days of playing center are numbered which won’t help his case on the open market, he’s still positioning himself for a new deal that starts with a seven or possibly even an eight on a long-term pact.  Thomas, meanwhile, is still getting his feet wet at the NHL level.  He has some runway to develop and if all goes well, he should push past $1MM at least next time out.

Spence is playing on his bridge deal, one that’s slightly back-loaded and carries a $1.7MM qualifying offer.  With Clarke taking on a bigger role offensively, that’s going to cut into Spence’s numbers potentially but as a right-shot player with some offensive upside, doubling the qualifying offer could still be possible.  As for Burroughs, he’s in a similar situation as Englund, someone who may be best served in a reserve role.  Accordingly, a small cut might be needed here as well.

Signed Through 2026-27

F Phillip Danault ($5.5MM, UFA)
D Drew Doughty ($11MM, UFA)
F Warren Foegele ($3.5MM, UFA)
G Darcy Kuemper ($5.25MM, UFA)
F Alex Turcotte ($775K, RFA)

Danault has shown a bit more offensively since coming to the Kings and has played with more consistency on that front, making him a quality second-line option for them thus far.  If he can stay around the 50-point range, he could beat this price tag by a bit in 2027 but if his production slows, his next deal could look a fair bit like this one.

Foegele picked the right time for a career year last season as that helped him land this contract in free agency.  If he can stay around 20 goals consistently, they’ll do alright with this one while he’d be in line for a small raise.  That said, 20 goals is the outlier at this point of his career (though he’s off to a good start this season on that front).  Turcotte took a rare three-year deal at the minimum, guaranteeing himself a one-way salary in the last two seasons.  That gives him and the Kings plenty of time to see if he’s just a late-bloomer or a lottery selection likely to be viewed in the bust category.  At the moment, when healthy, he’s primarily in a bottom-six role.  If that kept up over the course of the deal, he could plausibly command a seven-figure salary next time out.

When healthy, Doughty is still a legitimate all-situations number one defenseman.  Price-wise, the deal holds up a little better now compared to when it was first signed as a record-breaker.  Having said that, this is still on the high side, especially for a player with a lot of hard minutes under his belt and now two significant injuries in recent years.  That swings the valuation of this deal back into negative territory (although his current injury has given them short-term LTIR flexibility if nothing else).  Doughty will be entering his age-38 year on his next contract.  Like Kopitar, there’s a very good chance the price tag at that time will be lowered by a few million per season to reflect his age and the possibility for a sharper decline at that time.

Kuemper was brought in as their new starter while shedding the Pierre-Luc Dubois contract that didn’t go well in its first year.  Factoring in what they paid to get Dubois, the sequence of trades isn’t the prettiest but he gives them some stability between the pipes they haven’t had lately.  He’ll be 37 when his next contract starts so this price tag might be as high as it gets.

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Kraken Recall Ben Meyers

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With Jordan Eberle out for the weekend, the Kraken needed some extra forward depth up front.  That will be forward Ben Meyers, as the Kraken announced (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from AHL Coachella Valley.

Meyers is in his first season with Seattle after signing a one-year, one-way contract worth $775K on the opening day of free agency this past summer.  The 26-year-old had a strong preseason showing, leading the Kraken in scoring with two goals and three assists in four games but it wasn’t good enough for him to break camp with the big club.  After clearing waivers, Meyers has played exclusively with the Firebirds so far and is off to a good start to his season, collecting two goals and six assists in 11 games.

Meyers is a veteran of 67 career NHL appearances between Colorado and Anaheim and has seen action at the top level in each of the last three seasons.  All told, he has six goals and two assists to his name while logging just shy of ten minutes per game.

While the Kraken got Meyers as an unrestricted free agent, they can actually gain his RFA rights if he plays in 13 games or more with them as that would take him off the Group Six UFA list back to Group Two RFA status.  Seattle had two open roster spots before calling Meyers up so no corresponding moves needed to be made to add him to the active roster.

West Notes: Eberle, Ducks, Joseph

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The Kraken will be without their captain for at least the next two games and possibly more as Tim Booth of The Seattle Times relays that Jordan Eberle won’t play this weekend due to a lower-body injury.  The 34-year-old was injured in a collision on Thursday against Chicago.  Head coach Dan Bylsma noted that while Eberle was feeling a little better on Friday, there still needs to be further testing and evaluation done; that will come early next week to determine how much longer he might be out for.  Eberle is off to a decent start to the season, notching six goals and five assists in 17 games so far while playing a little under 16 minutes a night.

More from the Western Conference:

  • The Ducks issued several injury updates late Friday. After originally being classified as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, defenseman Cam Fowler will now miss the next two to four weeks because of it.  A speculative trade candidate, the 32-year-old has been limited to just 12 games so far this season where he has only two points in a little over 21 minutes a night.  Meanwhile, forward Mason McTavish is day-to-day with an upper-body injury while defenseman Urho Vaakanainen’s upper-body issue is being evaluated; he’s also listed as day-to-day for now.  McTavish has two goals and six assists in 13 games so far while Vaakanainen has suited up just five times and has one assist and seven blocked shots.
  • Blues defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph left the road trip to have his injury better evaluated but the test results were good, relays Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Accordingly, the 25-year-old is listed as day-to-day.  Joseph is in his first season in St. Louis after signing with them in free agency following his non-tender from Pittsburgh.  He has played in 13 games so far this season, recording one assist while averaging a little under 14 minutes a night.

Flames Re-Assign Adam Klapka

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Saturday: Klapka has been reassigned to the minors, the Flames announced.  While he was on the roster for three games, he didn’t suit up in any of them.

Monday: The Flames announced Monday that they’ve recalled forward Adam Klapka from AHL Calgary. He fills the roster spot vacated by Dryden Hunt, whose reassignment to the minors evaded our coverage over the weekend.

Klapka, 24, made the Flames’ opening night roster but was sent to the AHL on Oct. 30 to make room for Samuel Honzek, who was coming off injured reserve at the time. Honzek has since been sent to the minors, as the Flames have done quite a lot of roster shuffling regarding their young players over the past couple of weeks.

During that three-week window, Klapka was rostered for nine games, playing in five of them. The 6’7″, 238-lb center/winger failed to record a point but had a +1 rating, five blocks and 18 hits while averaging 8:27 per game. It was the Prague native’s second NHL trial after appearing in six games for the Flames last season, scoring his first NHL goal in the process.

The Flames acquired the towering forward when they signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Czechia’s Bílí Tygři Liberec early in the 2022 offseason. He’s scored 37 goals, 39 assists and 76 points in 130 AHL games since, including five points through five games this season since being demoted late last month. He was a restricted free agent for over a month last summer before agreeing to a two-way deal ($775K/$100K) to bring him back to Calgary in mid-August.

Despite the recall, Klapka is expected to watch tonight’s game against the Kings from the press box, according to Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960. Ryan Lomberg, Kevin Rooney and Justin Kirkland will continue to comprise the Flames’ fourth line.

Hunt was returned to the minors on Saturday night following the team’s shootout loss to the Sabres. He did not play during his brief two-day recall. Now in his third season with the Flames organization, the 28-year-old has two goals and eight assists for 10 points in 12 AHL games this year.

Rangers Recall Jake Leschyshyn

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The Rangers announced Saturday that they’ve recalled center Jake Leschyshyn from AHL Hartford. Since there was an open spot on the active roster, no corresponding transaction is necessary.

Leschyshyn, 25, comes up from the AHL for the second time this season to serve as an extra body while the Blueshirts embark on a four-game Western Conference road trip. They had 13 forwards on the active roster, but center Filip Chytil appears unlikely to travel with the club after sustaining an upper-body injury in a collision with teammate K’Andre Miller in Thursday’s loss to the Jets.

In all likelihood, Leschyshyn won’t need to clear waivers when his recall is over. He did so back in September and has only been on the active roster for two days since without drawing into a game, so he’s still got nearly an entire month left on his temporary exemption.

Leschyshyn has only appeared in 14 NHL games for the Rangers since being claimed off waivers from the Golden Knights in January 2023, going pointless with a -4 rating while averaging just 8:13 per game. The Vegas 2017 second-round pick has also been steadily declining offensively in the AHL. He has just one goal and three assists in 13 games for Hartford this season after recording 15 points in 18 games there just two seasons ago.

Maple Leafs Reassign Philippe Myers On Conditioning Loan

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The Maple Leafs announced Saturday that they’ve assigned defenseman Philippe Myers to AHL Toronto on a conditioning loan.

Myers, 27, will remain on Toronto’s active roster and count against the salary cap while getting his first minor-league action of the season. He can remain on the AHL assignment for up to two weeks before he must be reinstated or placed on waivers.

The 6’5″ Myers was a surprise inclusion on the Leafs’ opening night roster after spending most of the past two seasons in the minors. He signed a one-year, one-way deal for $775K in free agency last summer after spending two campaigns in the Lightning organization, totaling 52 points in 113 games for their AHL affiliate in Syracuse but making just 16 NHL appearances in fringe action.

Unfortunately for the New Brunswick native, the roster spot hasn’t led to playing time. He’s been a healthy scratch for all but one of the Maple Leafs’ 18 games this season, logging a -1 rating and one hit in his sole appearance against the Bruins on Oct. 26 while skating 12:11.

The conditioning loan will allow Myers some AHL time without clearing waivers, but it’s still hard to imagine him avoiding the wire for much longer. Toronto will need to clear two roster spots when Auston Matthews or Max Pacioretty is ready to come off injured reserve, which will likely be achieved by waiving him and reassigning forward Alex Steeves after the latter’s recent call-up.

Interestingly, it won’t be Myers’ first time suiting up for the Marlies despite him not being affiliated with the Maple Leafs organization before this season. He had seven points in 16 games for them in 2021-22 while on loan from the Predators.

The right-shot defenseman has played 159 NHL games with Philadelphia, Nashville, Tampa Bay and Toronto, recording eight goals and 28 assists for 36 points. He’s only avoided an AHL assignment in a season once in his career, appearing in 44 of 56 games for the Flyers during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season.

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