Penguins Activate Teddy Blueger, Transfer Brandon Tanev To LTIR
- The Penguins welcomed back Teddy Blueger to the lineup against New Jersey as the team announced that he was activated off injured reserve. The 26-year-old has been quietly effective this season with 15 points in 28 games. Meanwhile, the Pens also transferred winger Brandon Tanev to LTIR retroactive to April 3rd. For the time being, that gives them another $3.5MM in cap room to work with and if they believe that he’ll miss the rest of the season, that could give them some more flexibility to try to make a splash at the deadline.
Pittsburgh Penguins Discussing Nicolas Deslauriers With Anaheim
3:48 p.m.: Friedman has backed off his original tweet, now reporting that the two sides are still in discussion about Deslauriers. Nothing is done.
3:24 p.m.: The Pittsburgh Penguins have been rumored to be interested in adding some size to their lineup and it looks like they’ve done just that as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Penguins have acquired winger Nicolas Deslauriers from the Anaheim Ducks. Terms or the trade have not been revealed.
It should be noted that the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins removed prospect defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph today from their AHL lineup. While that doesn’t necessarily mean that he is part of the trade, it certainly is a possibility.
The 30-year-old Deslauriers would give the team the needed physicality it is looking for. Well known for his fights against top enforcers, the bruising forward should give the Penguins much-needed grit on the ice. Deslauriers can even put the puck in the net at times as well, posting four goals and eight points in 35 games. He has also racked up 38 penalty minutes, 102 hits and four fights this year.
It’s likely Deslauriers will be useful against players such as Washington’s Tom Wilson, who he has a history with as well as other impact players with the New York Islanders.
Penguins’ Colton Sceviour And Juuso Riikola Clear Waivers
Sunday: Both Sceviour and Riikola have cleared, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Saturday: The Penguins are trying to give themselves a bit of roster flexibility heading into Monday’s trade deadline as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that forward Colton Sceviour and defenseman Juuso Riikola have been placed on waivers.
Sceviour was acquired from Florida back in September as part of the Mike Matheson-Patric Hornqvist deal but while he had been a capable secondary scorer during his time with the Panthers and Stars, that hasn’t materialized with the Pens. Instead, the 31-year-old has just three goals and three assists in 31 games this season while averaging a career-low 9:30 per night of playing time. This led to him clearing waivers back in early March and he has played in 14 games since then, requiring him to pass through waivers before he can be loaned back to the taxi squad. Sceviour is in the final year of his contract which carries a $1.2MM AAV, meaning all but $125K can be buried on the taxi squad. He’s set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As for Riikola, the defenseman has had a limited role with Pittsburgh since signing with them back in 2018. While he played in at least 36 NHL games in each of his first two seasons in North America, he has been limited to just two this season. Part of that is due to an upper-body injury that cost him 22 games but as a result of the moves the Penguins made to add defensive depth when they were hit hard with injuries, he has yet to play since being cleared to return. The 27-year-old has another year left on his deal after this one with a $1.15MM AAV and if a team is willing to absorb a low seven-figure cost next season to add some free defensive depth, there’s a chance he could be claimed. If not, all but $75K of his cap hit can be wiped out by a taxi squad assignment.
Trade Rumors: Florida, Chicago, Toronto, Hall, Iafallo
The Florida Panthers’ trade of Brett Connolly earlier today was seemingly a precursor to something more, perhaps even a lot more. The trade opens up even more cap room for a Panthers’ team that already had substantial space, seemingly allowing them to do whatever they want at the trade deadline. With an estimated $16.4MM in full-season cap space per CapFriendly, no one is off limits to the Cats, who are looking to make the most of their firm playoff position in the Central Division. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports during the latest edition of “Insider Trading” that Florida is seeking both a top-six forward and top-four defenseman and with this additional space, there is no reason why they can’t address both if they can find reasonable trades. LeBrun notes that the Panthers were one of the teams discussing Kyle Palmieri with the New Jersey Devils prior to yesterday’s deal and will have to look elsewhere for help up front. On the blue line, LeBrun believes that rookie GM Bill Zito could look to reunite with David Savard, one of his former players in Columbus and a player heavily expected to be dealt before the deadline. One way or another, the Panthers are absolutely a buyer and a team to watch as Monday’s deadline approaches.
- As for the other side of this morning’s trade, the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to continue to use their cap room in hopes of adding other assets, LeBrun reports. Today’s deal not only landed a serviceable forward in Connolly, but also two nice young assets in Riley Stillman and Henrik Borgstrom. GM Stan Bowman would like to make as many of these types of deals as he can before the deadline. With so many teams across the league struggling with cap space, the Blackhawks could net several other pieces by offering up their financial flexibility. Specifically, LeBrun notes that Bowman has been talking to the Maple Leafs about a trade that would free up some space in Toronto.
- The Maple Leafs have been searching for a forward for some time, but it has not been going well. Not only are the Leafs dealing with a cap crunch, but their targets keep disappearing from the market too. Frank Seravalli reports that Toronto had previously shown strong interest in both Palmieri and Nashville’s Mikael Granlund; Palmieri is now an Islander and the Predators are in playoff position. The team will have to look elsewhere, but don’t expect them to turn to Taylor Hall. While Darren Dreger notes that interest in Hall is picking up with Palmieri off the market, Seravalli notes that the Leafs are not a suitor. Both Hall’s cap cost and the asking price to acquire him are thought to be too much for GM Kyle Dubas. That could change if Toronto finds a way to open up cap space and the bidding war for Hall fizzles out, but it seems unlikely that a deal will come together by Monday if the Leafs have shown no interest thus far.
- Tanner Pearson has finally signed a new contract with the Vancouver Canucks, but don’t worry a new extension-or-trade drama has already rose up to take it’s place. Seravalli reports that the Los Angeles Kings have been working hard to re-sign impending UFA forward Alex Iafallo and have previously turned away trade offers. However, the two sides have not been able to reach an agreement and time is running out. L.A. is now finally listening to offers for Iafallo, though extension talks continue. The Kings still hope to re-sign the 27-year-old scorer, but will have no choice but to trade him if a deal is not in place by Monday. L.A. is too far outside of a playoff spot right now to justify keeping Iafallo only to watch him walk for nothing as a free agent.
North Notes: Maple Leafs, Holloway, Senators Goalies
For the past several weeks, the belief has been that the Maple Leafs would be targeting a top-six winger upgrade. However, GM Kyle Dubas told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription link) that Alex Galchenyuk’s performance so far has reduced the urgency to make such a move. The 27-year-old has a goal and three assists in nine games with Toronto and will require waivers to go back to the taxi squad once he suits up again. Their cap situation is well-known – they’re pretty close to needing to match money in whatever moves they try to make – so it would definitely help if Galchenyuk can hold down that spot on the second line.
Dubas also indicated that he’s hopeful to have more information regarding Frederik Andersen’s availability over the next few days and that he expects that the Maple Leafs won’t have to make a move to bring in any extra goaltending depth.
More from the North Division:
- In an interview with Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (subscription link) Oilers GM Ken Holland indicated that they have told top prospect Dylan Holloway that they would like him to turn pro. However, with his broken thumb, he’s still several weeks away from being available to play so that decision can be deferred for a while. The 19-year-old had a very strong sophomore year at Wisconsin with 11 goals and 24 assists in just 23 games and if he’s healthy and willing to turn pro, he could be an interesting addition to Edmonton down the stretch.
- The Senators could be getting their goalie tandem back soon. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch notes that both Marcus Hogberg and Matt Murray are skating and nearing returns; Hogberg has been out since mid-February while Murray was injured in the pregame warmup back on March 14th. Anton Forsberg and Filip Gustavsson have served as the goalies in recent weeks and while the latter is waiver-exempt, Forsberg could once again find himself in the third-string reserve role that he has held for most of the season.
Trade Deadline Primer: Pittsburgh Penguins
We are now just over a week away from the NHL Trade Deadline and talks are heating up. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It has been an eventful year for the Penguins, to put it lightly. They’ve been hit hard by injuries, have had inconsistent goaltending at times, and had to deal with a sudden GM resignation as well when Jim Rutherford abruptly left. In spite of all of that, they are comfortably in a top-three spot in the East Division and are within striking distance of the number one seed. GM Ron Hextall will undoubtedly be looking to buy but he doesn’t appear to have the trade chips to be overly active.
Record
24-12-2, 3rd in East Division
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$833K in full-season space ($1.12MM at the trade deadline), 1/3 retention slots used, 48/50 contracts used per CapFriendly.
Pittsburgh also currently has some LTIR spending room with Evgeni Malkin on there at the moment. However, he is expected to return before the end of the season so that space can’t be used to trade for an impact replacement and thus is not factored into the above numbers.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2021: PIT 2nd, PIT 5th, ANA 7th, PIT 7th, WSH 7th
2022: PIT 1st, PIT 2nd, PIT 3rd, PIT 4th, PIT 5th, PIT 6th, PIT 7th
Trade Chips
When you don’t have a surplus of picks or prospects to deal from nor the cap space to take on a pricey contract, it’s tricky to find possible fits to intrigue other teams. One possible option is defenseman Juuso Riikola. He has been limited to just two games this season but has been a sixth or seventh option for a couple of years now. Their long list of injuries on defense (which included him for roughly six weeks) forced them to bring some other players in and as a result, the 27-year-old hasn’t played since being activated off LTIR nearly a month ago. With another year left on his deal at $1.15MM, Riikola’s salary is one that could be thrown into a move to try to match money for cap purposes.
Prospect winger Radim Zohorna has impressed in the minors and even chipped in with a goal in two games with Pittsburgh. At 6’6, his size will be intriguing to quite a few teams and if the Pens don’t want to part with a draft pick and instead want to move a prospect under contract instead, the 24-year-old pending restricted free agent will be asked about fairly quickly.
If Hextall wants to shake things up more drastically, Jason Zucker stands out as a longshot candidate to move. They paid a fairly high price to get him and with how he has performed, they’d be hard-pressed to recoup that now. However, with a $5.5MM price tag for two more years after this, moving him would allow them to potentially free up some wiggle room to make an impact addition now and depending on the term of the contract, possibly give them some extra space over the next two years when they’ll still be tight to the cap. Zucker may make more sense as an offseason trade candidate if they could find the right fit (there is a 10-team no-trade clause to contend with) but without many viable options to move now, he’s worth a mention here.
Others to Watch For: F Sam Miletic ($700K, RFA), F Valtteri Puustinen (prospect whose rights expire June 1st), Colton Sceviour ($1.2MM, UFA)
Team Needs
1) Center Depth – The long-term injuries to Malkin and Jared McCann (even Teddy Blueger has missed time) has emphasized how thin they are up the middle. Sam Lafferty and now Frederick Gaudreau have held their own but someone that’s an upgrade on those two that can serve a purpose on the fourth line but move up to anchor the third line if injuries strike would be nice. They were able to add some defensive depth when the injuries hit but that didn’t happen with their middlemen.
2) Goaltending Insurance – Casey DeSmith is having a fine season but only has 65 career games under his belt. Tristan Jarry has been up and down but has been okay overall. He too hasn’t played in 100 career NHL contests, sitting at 87. Their taxi squad option is Maxime Lagace who has a GAA near 4.00 in his limited NHL action. A more proven third option in case the injury bug bites yet again or one of the two netminders struggle would be a low-cost acquisition that could wind up being useful later on.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brandon Tanev And Teddy Blueger Return To Practice
- Penguins forwards Brandon Tanev and Teddy Blueger returned to practice today, reports Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Tanev has missed nearly two weeks due to an upper-body injury while Blueger has missed just over two weeks with an upper-body issue of his own. It’s not all good news on the injury front for Pittsburgh, however, as goalie Tristan Jarry didn’t skate with the team. He left Monday’s game after the first period with an upper-body injury and is currently listed as day-to-day.
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 03/30/21
There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day:
West Division
- Late Monday, the Vegas Golden Knights made a number of roster moves, according to CapFriendly, which includes recalling forward Cody Glass and defenseman Dylan Coughlan, while also calling up goaltender Oskar Dansk on an emergency loan. Dansk was just filling in for Marc-Andre Fleury who got the day off. The team also called up forward Dylan Sikura, defenseman Carl Dahlstrom and goaltender Logan Thompson to the taxi squad.
- Vegas also announced it has assigned center Cody Glass to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL, which is somewhat surprising after the forward put up an impressive performance Monday against Los Angeles. Of course, that doesn’t mean he will play a game for Henderson, but something to keep an eye on as Vegas works the salary cap before the trade deadline.
North Division
- The Toronto Maple Leafs announced they have reassigned three players to the taxi squad, including forwards Adam Brooks and Scott Sabourin as well as defenseman Timothy Liljegren. All three played in the Toronto Marlies victory over Stockton Monday with Brooks and Liljegren each picking up goals, while Sabourin picked up a five-minute major. The team also assigned forward Nicholas Robertson and defenseman Calle Rosen to the Marlies.
Central Division
- The Columbus Blue Jackets announced they have recalled three players from the taxi squad to the NHL club, including forwards Zac Dalpe and Liam Foudy as well as recalling goaltender Cam Johnson on emergency conditions. That likely means that goaltender Joonas Korpisalo may not be ready to step into backup duties. After clearing waivers, the team has also assigned defenseman Scott Harrington to the taxi squad.
- The Detroit Red Wings announced they have recalled forwards Givani Smith, Evgeny Svechnikov and Frans Nielson from the taxi squad, their standard roster moves before a game.
- With a need of defensive help, the Florida Panthers announced the recall of veteran Anton Stralman to the NHL squad. The 34-year-old has three goals and nine points in 29 games this season.
- Another day, another shuffle of forwards in Dallas. The team announced that Ty Dellandrea, Justin Dowling, and Tanner Kero have all been activated from the taxi squad, while Joel L’Esperance has been reassigned to the taxi squad. All four have been transaction fixtures this season.
East Division
- The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have recalled goaltender Maxime Lagace to the taxi squad from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. After an undisclosed injury to Tristan Jarry, the team may need Lagace closer to home. To make room on the taxi squad, the team has send forward Jonathan Gruden to the WBS Penguins.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Injury Notes: Zucker, Malkin, Hischier, Andersen
The Pittsburgh Penguins have officially activated Jason Zucker from injured reserve and have listed him as a game-time decision for their contest tonight against the New York Islanders. Zucker is returning much quicker than many had anticipated when he went down with a lower-body injury in late-February but will be a welcome addition to the Penguins lineup.
Now 29, Zucker has just seven points in 17 games for Pittsburgh this season but is coming back at the perfect time. The team has moved Evgeni Malkin to long-term injured reserve retroactive to March 16 meaning he will miss at least six more games. Drew O’Connor and Jonathan Gruden have also been moved to the taxi squad.
- Another East Division team got some good injury news, as Nico Hischier has resumed workouts and cardio activity after his recent sinus fracture. There is still no timetable for Hischier’s return, but Devils head coach Lindy Ruff expressed some optimism for the young forward, saying he is “progressing” in his recovery. Hischier underwent surgery to repair the fracture on March 15 and was given a three-week timeline, meaning he is still expected back early next month.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs will have Michael Hutchinson in net tonight as they try to limit the workload for Jack Campbell, who has taken over starting duties in Frederik Andersen‘s absence. Toronto has been very tight-lipped when it comes to Andersen’s injury, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that the team does not currently believe that it is season-ending. Of course, if it were to keep Andersen out the rest of the regular season, the Maple Leafs would have some added cap flexibility through long-term injured reserve. Friedman suspects the front office has “a move or two in his back pocket” for when the cap numbers work. Andersen hasn’t played since March 19.
Penguins Notes: Trade Wishes, Zucker, Injuries, Crosby
The Pittsburgh Penguins are faring quite well so far in a competitive East Division with Pittsburgh currently two points back of first place. The Penguins are enjoying a solid season and new President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke and general manager Ron Hextall are expected to bolster their roster as the trade deadline nears.
Interesting enough, NBC Sports Adam Gretz reports that the two new executives are both well known for their appreciation of size on their teams and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Penguins were seeking help in that direction as the trade deadline approaches. While the team doesn’t have the firepower to trade for any big names on the market, the scribe believes that a realistic target may be Detroit’s Anthony Mantha.
The 26-year-old Mantha could be a good find as the winger has struggled in the last couple of seasons with injuries being the main culprit. This year, Mantha has just nine goals and 16 points in 34 games and might prove to be a good trade chip if general manager Steve Yzerman chooses. However, for the Penguins to add Mantha, they would have to unload a significant amount with few assets but a handful of prospects and almost no picks as the Penguins have already traded away their first, third, fourth and sixth-round picks for 2021.
- Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan reports that winger Jason Zucker practiced fully Sunday and is close to returning to the Pittsburgh lineup at some point this week, according to Wes Crosby of NHL.com. Zucker skated in a non-contact sweater Saturday, so Sunday was a step up. The 29-year-old has four goals and seven points in 17 games, but will have to be activated from long-term injured reserve before he can play.
- Crosby also notes that forwards Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev were on the ice Sunday with skills and development coach Ty Hennes. Tanev reportedly cleared the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol on Sunday, but didn’t practice with the team as he is still rehabbing from an upper-body injury. He remains day-to-day, but is also close. Blueger was placed on injured reserve on March 18 with an upper-body injury and was listed as week-to-week.
- The Athletic’s Josh Yohe (subscription required) suggests Sidney Crosby, while a longshot, as a potential candidate for the Hart Trophy. The scribe writes that despite a number of significant candidates for the award like Patrick Kane, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Auston Matthews, Crosby could be an outside candidate. The 33-year-old center has 14 goals and 39 points in 34 games and has been a key leader for an impressive Penguins team that has been without Evgeni Malkin for much of the season.