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Minor Transactions: 04/02/18

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The NHL is down to the last week of the season, with all games scheduled to be wrapped up by Sunday night. With that in mind, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves around the league and give context on how they could impact the playoff picture. Check back throughout the day to stay up to date on your favorite team.

  • According to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, the Buffalo Sabres have recalled Matt Tennyson from the minor leagues to help replace the injured Victor Antipin. Antipin was knocked unconscious this weekend against the Nashville Predators, and won’t play again this season. Tennyson has played 14 games for the Sabres this season, though most of his work has come in the AHL. The 27-year old defenseman is still looking for his first NHL point of the season.
  • Back and forth goes Oliver Kylington, who has been recalled once again by the Calgary Flames today. Kylington is still looking to get a chance at the NHL level, but the 20-year old defenseman has seen positive progression while in the minor leagues.
  • Thatcher Demko is on his way back to the minor leagues, in time to help the Utica Comets with their playoff push. If the AHL playoffs started today, the Comets would have to dangerous Toronto Marlies in the first round, a matchup that would really test Demko and give him an opportunity to show he’s too good for the minor leagues.
  • The Boston Bruins have recalled Colby Cave from the minor leagues under emergency conditions, bringing up the forward once again. Cave made his NHL debut earlier this year, and could get back into the lineup if one of the injured players for Boston can’t play.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have swapped goaltenders, recalling Jeff Glass from the minor leagues and sending Collin Delia back down. Delia had a very interesting debut, suiting up after Anton Forsberg was injured, only to suffer an injury himself and relinquish the net to emergency goaltender Scott Foster. Delia has played at three different professional levels already this season, impressive for an undrafted goaltender out of Merrimack College.
  • The Dallas Stars have reassigned Jason Dickinson to the minor leagues, giving him back to the Texas Stars for their playoff run. Texas will welcome him back with open arms, as Dickinson has 16 goals in just 36 games this season.

Minor Transactions: 03/30/18

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A busy night in the NHL brought several exciting finishes, but nothing quite like the drama that occurred in Chicago. Scott Foster, a 36-year old recreational goalie entered the game when Collin Delia was injured, and stopped all seven shots he faced en route to a first star selection and perfect NHL debut.

Because of the injuries to Anton Forsberg and Delia—who was also making his NHL debut—the Blackhawks made Jean-Francois Berube an emergency call-up, recalling the goaltender after just seeing him clear waivers this week.

Like always, we’ll keep track of all the other moves around the league:

  • Also facing goaltending problems, the Buffalo Sabres have recalled Adam Wilcox from the minor leagues. Wilcox has bounced around the minor leagues for the last few seasons, but is still waiting for his NHL debut. The 25-year old has a .903 save percentage in 28 games with the Rochester Americans this season.
  • The Dallas Stars have sent Curtis McKenzie back to the minor leagues, according to Mark Stepneski of NHL.com. McKenzie has played in just seven games for the Stars this year, and is still looking for his first goal of the season.
  • The Boston Bruins have returned Jordan Szwarz to the minor leagues, according to Mark Divver of the Providence Journal. Szwarz is having another excellent season in the AHL, recording 44 points in 46 games. His time in the NHL hasn’t been as fruitful, with just three points in 12 contests.
  • Kerby Rychel has been recalled by the Montreal Canadiens, after playing some of the best hockey of his career for the Laval Rocket of late. Rychel has registered 12 points in the 14 games since being traded from the Toronto Marlies, and could get his first taste of NHL action in more than two years. The 23-year old was a first-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets and debuted at age 20 to high expectations, but couldn’t find his footing in the NHL and was passed over by other prospects. He’ll try for a fresh start in Montreal, where they are dying for an offensive spark of any kind.

Snapshots: Tavares & Barzal, Berube, Gustavsson, Tolvanen, McLain

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Having lost 10 out of their last 11 games this season, the New York Islanders look ready to make a major change as head coach Doug Weight plans to not only shake up their lines, but also put their two best players on the same lines for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. The move, which was actually started Friday during the second period would force John Tavares to the wing position with rookie Mathew Barzal moving next to him at the center position, according to Andrew Gross of Newsday. Jordan Eberle will take over at right wing.

“It doesn’t mean he’s going to play wing and it doesn’t mean he’s not a centerman,” Weight said of Tavares. “It’s an experiment. Moving forward it gives them some experience together. I’m excited to see it.”

One has to wonder whether the move is made to see whether Barzal and Tavares might make a good fit, which could be another incentive, if it works, to convince Tavares to stay and re-sign with the franchise at the end of the season. The team has struggled offensively recently and neither player has stood out recently. Tavares has just two goals in the team’s last 10 games, while Barzal has just three in that same span.

  • While Corey Crawford is unlikely to return this year in goal for the Chicago Blackhawks, the real test for the remainder of the year will be to determine who will end up being his backup next year. The team has both current goaltenders, Jean-Francois Berube and Anton Forsberg, under contract for one more season. According to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times, the better of the two will likely assume the backup spot next year. Both are very similar as they both make the almost the same amount of money and are almost the same age. Lazerus believes that while neither goalie is perfect, Berube has been slightly more consistent than Lindholm, who has put up one of the worst save percentages in the league since Feb. 1 (.889) and has already been pulled six times this season.
  • The Ottawa Senators got some good news as 19-year-old prospect goaltender Filip Gustavsson is heading for the AHL. According to the Ottawaw Citizen’s Ken Warren, Gustavsson, who the Senators acquired in the Derick Brassard trade from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, is expected to report to the Belleville Senators as his Lulea team in the Swedish Elite League was eliminated from the playoffs. He played 22 games in the SHL with a 2.07 GAA and a .918 save percentage.
  • On the other hand, the Nashville Predators are still keeping a close eye on the KHL playoffs as they watch the play of Eeli Tolvanen of Jokerit. The 2017 first-rounder saw his team drop their second straight playoff game to CSKA and if they get swept, Tolvanen could be free to sign with the Predators for their playoff run as early as Tuesday.
  • On a minor league note, the Iowa Wild of the AHL announced they signed Bowling Green forward Mitch McLain to an Amateur Tryout Agreement. The former captain was an nominee for the Hobey Baker Award and scored 53 goals for Bowling Green over the course of four seasons.

Blackhawks Place Corey Crawford On IR

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Seemingly out of nowhere, the Chicago Blackhawks have placed All-Star goaltender Corey Crawford on the injured reserve today, the team announced. The team has recalled J-F Berube from the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs and he and Anton Forsberg will man the Chicago net for as long as Crawford is out with his unidentified injury.

Crawford not only played all sixty minutes for the Blackhawks last night, but even put in some extra time in an overtime loss to the Dallas Stars. At no point was there any clear injury to Crawford, nor did he leave the ice for any span of time. Yet, the Chicago keeper is headed to the IR, putting his team in a tough spot for an indeterminate amount of time. While Crawford has easily been a top ten NHL goalie this season, single-handedly winning some games for the defense-deficient ’Hawks while posting a truly impressive .930 save percentage. Now, he’ll be substituted for two new players to Chicago that have yet to impress. Forsberg, a piece of the Artemi Panarin–Brandon Saad deal, has struggled mightily as Crawford’s backup so far. He has just one win and a 3.67 GAA in five appearance. He’s now the impromptu starter, with Berube – who has been nothing more than pedestrian in the AHL – as the primary backup. Until more is known about Crawford’s condition, this is a scary situation for the Blackhawks, who now have an inexperienced and struggling duo behind an inconsistent defense.

Fortunately, Chicago is quite out of it just yet, despite some early season issues. Their 28 points puts them outside the Central Division’s top three spots, but well within the wild card mix. Even without Crawford, upcoming match-ups with Buffalo, Arizona, and Florida favor the Blackhawks and a quick return for Crawford from whatever ails him could mean little harm comes from this whole unexpected ordeal. A long-term injury is whole other discussion though…

Tyler Motte Recalled By Columbus Blue Jackets

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled the other piece of this summer’s Brandon Saad trade, promoting Tyler Motte to the NHL. Motte was acquired along with Artemi Panarin from the Chicago Blackhawks this offseason, in exchange for Brandon Saad and goaltender Anton Forsberg.

Motte has been off to a quick start with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL, scoring seven points in his first seven games to lead the team. His five goals also easily pace the club, as the 22-year old is starting to come into his own offensively. Originally selected in the fourth-round by the Blackhawks in 2013, he exploded during his junior year at the University of Michigan to the tune of 32 goals and 56 points in 38 games. Motte was a Hobey Baker finalist while skating on a line with J.T. Compher (Colorado) and Kyle Connor (Winnipeg).

The recall of Motte may mean a longer timeline for Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson, who was injured during Saturday’s 4-1 loss at the hands of the St. Louis Blues. Atkinson had a rough night in St. Louis, and is currently out with a lower-body injury. Motte offers some of the offensive game that Atkinson normally provides, and could quickly find himself thrust into important minutes with the NHL club.

Motte did play 33 games for the Blackhawks last season, registering seven points fewer than 12 minutes a night. The young forward has experience at center, though could be tasked to start his Columbus career on the wing. The Blue Jackets, who are already without Lukas Sedlak for another several weeks, will have their forward depth tested should Atkinson remain out for any substantial length of time.

Oscar Dansk Looking For Career Revival In Vegas

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23 years old is still very young for a goaltender. Yet, that didn’t stop many people from writing off Oscar Dansk over the last few years and that was when he was even younger. The path that has led Dansk to a new NHL opportunity with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights has not be straight, nor has it been easy. However, with rave review after rave review coming out of Knights camp, it appears that Dansk may be back on track.

Dansk was originally drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the first pick in the second round (#31) of the 2012 NHL draft, out of the Swedish club Brynas. With some prodding from the Jackets, Dansk then came overseas to play junior hockey with the OHL’s Erie Otters. Dansk’s first season of major junior action was a disaster; a 4.11 GAA and .888 save percentage immediately made people rethink Columbus’ decision to take him so early. Yet, Dansk bounced back in his second season in Erie. Thus, when Dansk struggled mightily in his first pro season in 2014-15 – a 3.50+ GAA and sub-.890 save percentage in both the AHL and ECHL – it would have been safe to assume that the next year he would rebound. However, the Blue Jackets had selected Joonas Korpisalo one round after Dansk in 2012 and had slowly been bringing along 2011 seventh-rounder Anton Forsberg as well and that duo had outperformed Dansk. Add in veteran Brad Thiessen, and the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters had more than enough depth in net (and it would eventually lead them to a Calder Cup title in 2015-16). Rather than permanently put Dansk in the ECHL, Columbus agreed to loan him back to Sweden to play for Rogle BK. Dansk performed well in his first season back home, but the Jackets still chose to loan him out again last season. Following a more pedestrian campaign in 2016-17, Dansk did not receive a qualifying offer from Columbus and his NHL future seemed very much in doubt.

Enter the Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL’s newest team and an organization that needed to fill out the majority of an AHL roster almost entirely with free agent additions. Dansk got a second chance to make a name for himself in North America, inking a one-year with Vegas in early July. Dansk’s first objective is to win the starting job for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, the new affiliate of the Knights. His competition is former Dallas Stars’ prospect Maxime Lagace, who has had his own fair share of struggles early on in his career. Given the applause that Dansk has already seen in camp, that seems like a safe bet. Once Dansk is established as the next goalie in line in 2017-18, he need only wait for an opportunity to show Vegas what he has to offer. With veteran Marc-Andre Fleury coming off back-to-back seasons in which he shared the net in Pittsburgh and having suffered a concussion in each of those campaigns as well, it is possible that taking over a starter’s workload again could prove to be a tougher task than one might have considered. If Fleury misses time this season, which is surely a possibility, the Knights are set with promising young backup Calvin Pickard. And if Pickard needs a rest? Then Dansk is the man, and s career that went from a high likelihood of NHL success to a high likelihood that he may never even see NHL action will suddenly be back to where it began when he was drafted early back in 2012.

2017 NHL Free Agency Tracker

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Stay with PHR for all of the free agency signings this off-season. As of noon ET on July 1st, unrestricted free agency is open, but not before many extensions earlier in June. This page serves to organize everything in one spot, and are linked to the PHR story that corresponds with the signing. All July signings will be separated by date while June signings are organized alphabetically by team. It will be updated as soon as stories post.

Please note that signings on this list start on June 12.

July 1st:

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Chicago Blackhawks Sign Anton Forsberg, Tomas Jurco

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The Chicago Blackhawks have signed two of their pending restricted free agents, inking Anton Forsberg to a two-year contract and Tomas Jurco for one year. While no details have been released, getting the two restricted free agents under contract early is a nice bonus for the Blackhawks, who will be navigating a difficult salary cap all summer. While Jurco will still be an RFA at the end of the contract, Forsberg could potentially become a Group VI free agent should he play less than 19 games over the next two years.

Acquired last week from the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of the Artemi Panarin deal, Forsberg is the likely backup for Corey Crawford next year. His short experience in the NHL has been very underwhelming, though he’s performed incredibly well in the AHL. He was a big reason the Lake Erie (now Cleveland) Monsters won the 2016 Calder Cup, recording a .949 save percentage after taking over from Joonas Korpisalo. He’ll have big shoes to fill, as Scott Darling has been one of the best backups in the league in recent years and earned himself a starting job with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Jurco on the other hand was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline but recorded just one point down the stretch for Chicago. Hoping he could be the next Richard Panik, the Blackhawks will try to turn him around and get back to the offensive player he was in junior and the early parts of his professional career. Selected 35th-overall by Detroit in 2011, he’ll need to make an impact soon or will have a hard time finding a regular job around the league.

Free Agent Focus: Chicago Blackhawks

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The free agent period is now less than two weeks away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of Chicago’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: G Anton Forsberg – Although he wasn’t the headliner in the Artemi Panarin for Brandon Saad swap, Forsberg is an intriguing young goalie who should settle in as the replacement for Scott Darling to play behind Corey Crawford.  He hasn’t had much success yet at the NHL level which should keep the asking price low despite a stellar season at the AHL level in 2016-17.  He’s due a qualifying offer of $715K and a one year deal for Forsberg should come in close to that.

D Ville Pokka – Pokka has yet to play at the NHL level after spending the last three years in Chicago’s farm system but that may very well change next season.  His production took a notable dip with Rockford (from 45 to 30 points) but he’s still an intriguing two-way defender.  Contract talks have already started and while he’s due a two-way qualifying offer just under $875K, he’s a candidate to take less than that in exchange for more guaranteed money, a move that may help his push for a roster spot in 2017-18.

Other RFA’s: D Erik Gustafsson, F Kenton Helgeson, F Michael Latta, F Tomas Jurco, F Dennis Rasmussen, D Nolan Valleau

Mar 27, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA;Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell (51) passes the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsKey Unrestricted Free Agents: D Brian Campbell – His second go-round in Chicago wasn’t anywhere near as successful as his first but that was to be expected given his age and the role he was brought to play.  Campbell still did a decent job in a bottom half spot in the lineup where he averaged 18:26 per night, his lowest ice time in more than a decade.  Now 38, Campbell has indicated that he would like to stay in Chicago but he may have to take another pay cut from the $2.25MM he earned (including bonuses) this past season in order to do so.

D Johnny Oduya – GM Stan Bowman brought Oduya back into the fold just before the trade deadline in order to bolster their back end but that was after that had squirreled away a bit of cap space with Dallas retaining half of his $3.75MM cap hit as well.  That won’t be the case in free agency so unless he’s willing to sign a one year incentive-laden contract, he’s probably not an option to come back.  He’s not an ideal top four on a contending team but he should still receive lots of interest as a dependable veteran third pairing player.

Other UFA’s: G Mac Carruth, F Andrew Desjardins, G Lars Johansson, F Pierre-Cedric Labrie, F Brandon Mashinter

Projected Cap Space: With Marian Hossa out for the season and expected to be headed for LTIR, Chicago may have a little bit more room to work with this summer.  However, as things stand, they sit at $76.5MM in committed contracts to 21 players per CapFriendly which is already $1.5MM over the cap.  Considering that they will want to be under before they can put Hossa on in-season LTIR (to give them some in-season payroll flexibility), there’s some more cutting that will need to be done before they can look towards adding in free agency.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Morning Notes: Calvert, Zaitsev, Blue Jackets

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When Matt Calvert decided to crosscheck Tom Kuhnhackl across the back last night, he put himself at risk of a suspension according to many around the game. When he then knocked down the defenseless Kuhnhackl seconds later, he may have crossed the line entirely. That’s what many are saying today, though there has yet to be a word from the Department of Player Safety. A suspension would definitely be a strong message, as playoff games are usually considered twice as valuable as regular season contests.

Last year, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Andrew Shaw, Brayden Schenn, Brooks Orpik and Kris Letang all received bans during the postseason (though Schenn served his the next season). We’ll see if Calvert gets any discipline, or if the Penguins have to take it into their own hands next game. For what it’s worth, Pierre LeBrun of ESPN gets the feeling that he’ll avoid missing any games and just receive a suspension.

  • Nikita Zaitsev was back on the ice before the Maple Leafs’ morning skate according to Kristen Shilton of TSN, his first time skating since his upper-body injury in the last game of the regular season. The young Russian defender is an important part of the Maple Leafs blue line, and would be welcomed back for game 3 should he be medically cleared. For now, the team won’t change their defense group from the first game; Martin Marincin stays in, while Matt Hunwick remains paired with Morgan Rielly.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have called up both Anton Forsberg and Sonny Milano while sending Oscar Dansk back to the Cleveland Monsters. Down 2-0 in their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Blue Jackets have to find a way to insert some more offense into their lineup and perhaps Milano is the answer. It also could easily be a precautionary action for any incoming Calvert discipline. The Monsters ended their season yesterday, but will have to wait to see whether they make the playoffs. Should the Charlotte Checkers lose their final game in regulation today against the Chicago Wolves, the Monsters would make it. Otherwise, Milano and Forsberg will likely remain with the team and be joined by other AHLers.

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