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Pacific Notes: Foo, Tanev, Treliving

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The Union College standout Spencer Foo looks to be closing in on a decision as to where he will sign in the NHL. The right-winger netted an impressed 62 points in 38 games as a junior. An Edmonton native, he appears to be closing in on signing with the Edmonton Oilers, per Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. He has also been linked to the Flyers, where he would almost certainly see a more favorable landscape when it concerns openings in the top-12 forward group. Foo, leading scorer of the Dutchmen, was announced as one of the 10 semi-finalists for the Hobey Baker award. The forward plays a gritty, greasy game and already appears to have embraced the physicality of an adult game. He has enough offensive upside to easily grow into a top-9 role.

  • Dallas is still on the hunt for a defenseman to aid newly acquired Ben Bishop, and according to Matheson have interest in Vancouver’s Chris Tanev. He only played 53 games last season, and struggled a bit alongside the rest of his Canuck teammates. Matheson ponders whether Dallas would be willing to move the #3 pick if more pieces were added, but this is difficult to imagine unless the addition is a far bigger get, probably including the Canucks’ own #5 selection. Second pairing defenseman are generally worth 2nd or 3rd rounders, whereas Dallas will have the opportunity to draft a real difference maker at their current position, conceivably standout defensive prospect Cale Makar. Dallas wants to compete now but the decision ultimately lies in Vancouver’s court.
  • Calgary has a large decision ahead of them, and it seems as though they could be the icebreaker on the goalie front. GM Brad Treliving has tough work ahead – the Flames seem intent on letting Brian Elliott go after his post-season struggles, and he’s arguably the best free agent goalie available. The team has been linked (with varying degrees of certainty) in trade talks to New York’s Antti Raanta and Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury, and Arizona’s Mike Smith is a name that has been widely mentioned as available. Treliving will likely want to sort the situation out before July 1st when the pickings will get far slimmer. Peter Budaj and Mike Condon are options, but there will be other teams lobbying for their services.

Goalie Market Far Too Crowded

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Although the expansion draft and entry draft are the immediate matters on the minds of those not involved with the Finals, there is still ample reason to speculate on the UFA class. After all, the ability for teams to start signing players is less than a month away. In a particularly weak free agent class, however, one factor sticks out quite prominently. There are 10 goaltenders who played regularly for their teams this season, who will be vying for far fewer NHL roster spots. Only two teams are truly desperate for a starter, those being the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets.

None of the available goaltenders even cracks my top 25 free agents, which should indicate how poor some of the tenders’ seasons have been. That said, these 10 names combined have played thousands of NHL games. By my estimation, still leading the pack should be former Calgary Flame Brian Elliott. Elliott’s career stats are decent, and he’s only one season removed from a 38 win, .930 save percentage year with the Blues. However, he melted down in grand fashion this off-season en route to a sweep at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. It may not be fair, but that will absolutely impact his perceived value around the league. His one-year contract gamble, which looked wise at the time, may cost him now. Also in the “top tier” of goaltenders available are Peter Budaj, who had a career year in Los Angeles, Mike Condon, who is one of the most valued backups league-wide, and Jonathan Bernier, who had 21 wins and a respectable .923 save percentage in the regular season before being totally usurped by John Gibson.

Then there is the “middle tier” of goaltenders who likely won’t see a ton of interest, but could easily serve backup duty, some only on a severely reduced contract. These include Ryan Miller, Chad Johnson, and Steve Mason. Ryan Miller is nearly 37 years old, and although he may still have a bit left in the tank, it’s impossible to imagine a team opting to make him their starter. Complicating matters is that Miller will likely want a multi-year agreement to bring him security. Chad Johnson will likely find work, but it could be a long while waiting. Teams will more than likely scour the field for the bigger names first, and only circle back to him as a security backup. Steve Mason is an interesting reclamation project, especially when you consider that his stats weren’t totally horrendous (.908 SV%, 2.66 GAA). However, his career numbers just aren’t that solid, and the absolute fury he invoked from the Flyers fanbase didn’t boost his confidence or stock. Mason will need to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer a number one goalie, nor will he be paid as one – he earned $4.1 MM on his last contract and he’ll see nowhere near that this time around.

Rounding out the “bottom-most” group is Ondrej Pavelec, Jhonas Enroth, and Curtis McElhinney. Out of these, McElhinney seems the only with a solid hope of finding a gig. He only played in 21 games this past year between Columbus and Toronto, but performed decently. His .917 save percentage, well up from his .905 career, might be just enough to negotiate a contract, perhaps in the event of an injury. Pavelec has been nothing short of a disaster in Winnipeg, with his only good statistical year being 2014-15. He played just 8 games last season, with a .888 SV%. He may be forced to look overseas for employment. Enroth hasn’t fared any better – he’s only played 17 games in the last two seasons, not even tallying a win in 2016-17.

Essentially, none of these goalies will be highly sought after. Condon could realistically see a starting role next season, as could Budaj, which would have been unthinkable in the not-so-distant past. Teams have many options when it comes to goaltending, but none of them are particularly awe-inspiring. The prices on contracts will likely be diminished substantially due to the abundance of available players, and agents could see this situation extend deep into the summer months.

 

Potential Elliott Extension Comes With A Price

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Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving was on Sportsnet radio today and confirmed the previously reported details on the Brian Elliott trade from last summer. Should the Flames reach a new contract with the goaltender this summer, they would have to send an additional third-round pick to St. Louis. Though the Flames have previously considered an extension for Elliott, that extra asset obviously makes it harder.

Elliott had a terrible start to the season, holding an .898 save percentage through his first 30 games. He would raise that number to .910 by the end of the year, including an outstanding streak to help the Flames into the playoffs. It ended poorly, being pulled after just a single goal in the deciding game against the Anaheim Ducks. Even so, Elliott likely remains on the Flames list as a potential option for next season.

With Ben Bishop and Scott Darling already locked up, the goaltending options for a non-expansion team seem to be dwindling quite quickly. As reported yesterday, Mike Smith and Marc-Andre Fleury remain possibilities for the team, though may each come with a higher price than the 2018 third-round pick that Elliott would cost. Should the team want to make a short-term investment in order to bridge the gap to their young prospects—Jon Gillies and Tyler Parsons among them—any of these three could fit. Smith and Fleury both have two years remaining on their current contracts at $5.67MM and $5.75MM respectively.

Elliott at age-32 is still one of the more experienced options on the market for any team this summer, with 338 starts under his belt. His .913 career save percentage compares favorably to many of the other choices, including Steve Mason (.911 career save percentage), Ryan Miller (.915) and Jonathan Bernier (.915). He’s coming off a contract that carried just a $2.5MM cap hit.

Winnipeg To Wait To Make Goaltending Move?

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A flurry of goaltending moves may just be underway, but despite the fact that both Carolina and Dallas have each solved their long-term goalie issues by trading for Scott Darling and Ben Bishop respectively, some teams may be taking a more cautious approach when it comes to their goaltending problems.

The Winnipeg Jets are one of those teams who need to upgrade their roster behind the net, but the Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe suggests that the team needs to look at the overall picture. While the Jets are in a similar position that both Carolina and Dallas were in and must upgrade at the goalie position, caution remains in order too.

Current starter Connor Hellebuyck didn’t have the best season this past year, but the netminder remains just 23 years old and the team isn’t ready to give up on the young goaltender, nor do they want to expose the goaltender to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the upcoming expansion draft. He has been promising, but struggled as a full-time starter. In 59 games this past year, Hellebuyck finished with a 2.89 GAA and a .907 save percentage. His numbers as a part-time goaltender had been much better and the team may just want to look for a short-term option to share duties with Hellebuyck.

So due to those mixed results and the looming expansion draft, don’t expect the Jets to try to trade for their starting goaltender like Carolina and Dallas before them, at least until after the expansion draft. That almost guarantees the team will not be acquiring Marc-Andre Fleury, who will almost guaranteed be dealt by Pittsburgh before the expansion draft.

On top of that, the scribe suggests the team is also unlikely to sign a goaltender to a long-term deal since both Hellebuyck and top prospect Eric Comrie will require waivers in 2018-19 and the team would not be ready to lose either player that soon.

So, what options remain?

Wiebe suggests several smaller targets for the Jets to look at, including the Calgary Flames’ Brian Elliott. While the veteran goaltender is not coming off a great season in Calgary, he might be more open to a short-term deal to prove his worth. The Jets might be eager for someone like Elliott to share duties with Hellebuyck. Elliott finished with a disappointing 2.55 GAA and a .910 save percentage this past year in 49 games, the most he had played since 2009-10. However, before that, he had a 2.07 and a .930 save percentage in 2015-16 and could be great comeback candidate.

Other suggestions were to focus on acquiring backup goaltenders, including Anaheim’s Jonathan Bernier, Ottawa’s Mike Condon, New York Rangers’ Antti Raanta and Washington’s Philipp Grubauer.

 

Reactions To Bishop Signing

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One of the bigger names has taken his name off the open market as Ben Bishop, who arguably would have been the top option for teams looking for goaltending help, has inked a six-year agreement to remain with the Dallas Stars. Of course the Stars had acquired the veteran netminder earlier this week, sending a fourth-round draft choice to Los Angeles to secure exclusive negotiating rights to Bishop. The club and Bishop concluded negotiations fairly quickly and it’s evident given the terms of the arrangement that both parties believed this was a perfect match. Dallas clearly feels they’ve solved their longstanding issues between the pipes and Bishop has decided he wants to be a Star for what should amount to be the rest of his career. Let’s check in on reactions from around the league on the deal.

  • Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News calls the deal “team friendly” considering the cap hit comes in under $5MM annually. Bishop accounted for almost $6MM per season on the soon-to-expire contract he signed with Tampa Bay two years ago and likely could have exceeded that number had he reached the open market. Instead he chose the security of a long-term deal with a Dallas team he feels is “primed to win now.” Heika goes on to write that Dallas is expected to go with a Bishop-Kari Lehtonen duo in goal, suggesting that the team will likely buy Antti Niemi out if they can’t find a trade partner for his services. That plan doesn’t come without its flaws as the Stars would have more than $12MM tied up in its goaltenders for 2017-18; a figure that accounts for roughly 17% of the salary cap. While goaltending was certainly the team’s Achilles heel last season, the Stars will also likely be on the lookout for a blue line upgrade this summer. Even after extending Bishop and with Niemi still on the books, Dallas will have roughly $15MM to spend and that should be enough to bring in some competent help on the back end.
  • TSN’s Scott Cullen takes a look at the deal through the lens of statistical analysis and concludes that Dallas is taking a risk while betting big on Bishop. Using Corsica Hockey’s “expected goals” metric, Cullen notes that Bishop ranks 23rd of 54 goalies to have played in 80 games over the last four seasons in expected goal differential per 60 minutes and in all game situations. Ironically, incumbent starter Kari Lehtonen ranked slightly higher than Bishop using that metric. Cullen also cites Bishop’s age – he’ll turn 31 in November – as a concern given the overall length of the pact. Additionally, even with an expected Niemi buyout, Cullen argues that the Stars “goaltending fiasco has been expensive.”
  • Lastly, Jared Clinton of The Hockey News writes that the Calgary Flames, one of the teams expected to show strong interest in Bishop had he reached free agency, still have plenty of options as they look to upgrade their goaltending situation this summer. Clinton lists Detroit’s Jimmy Howard, Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury and the Islanders Jaroslav Halak as potential trade targets. Additionally, the scribe mentions Steve Mason as a possible free agent fit. Interestingly, Clinton also suggests re-signing Brian Elliott, writing: “Elliott had been so very good over the three seasons prior to coming to Calgary that it’s hard to imagine he’s going to struggle as mightily once he takes the ice in 2017-18.” He also points out that Elliott’s poor 2016-17 would conceivably lower his asking price, making the veteran netminder the least expensive option on the market. That’s no small consideration for a Calgary team that rarely spends to the salary cap ceiling and may want to allocate their resources to upgrade other positions as well.

Ultimately, the Flames best bet may be to re-sign Elliott on the cheap and bring in another veteran on a short-term deal, perhaps Mason, to compete for the #1 job. Mason, who has battled inconsistency and injury during his career, has displayed flashes of being an excellent goalie at times. Given his up-and-down play, the former Calder Trophy winner should be amenable to a one-year, prove-it type of contract. Elliott, meanwhile, has been at his best in a timeshare situation and could again thrive while competing against a veteran such as Mason.

Atlantic Division Snapshots: Pastrnak, Brassard, Red Wings

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Despite a first round elimination at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, the 2016-17 campaign has to be considered a success for the Boston Bruins organization. The team returned to the postseason after back-to-back non-playoff seasons and showed tremendous resilience during their six-game series loss, nearly overcoming injuries to key regulars Brandon Carlo, David Krejci, Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid to push Ottawa to OT in game six. Perhaps the silver lining to the season was the development of young Czech winger David Pastnak, who in his third year saw a marked increase across the board in terms of offensive production, setting career-highs in goals (34) assists (36) and points (70). Pastrnak stuggled some in the postseason, finishing with just five shots on goal and regularly turning the puck over, but as Joe Haggerty of CSNNE writes, the 20-year-old will be a better player long term in part because of the playoff experience.

Pastrnak also wrapped up his ELC, making him a RFA this summer. Boston will have a decision to make; do they try to lock up the talented offensive right wing to a long term deal or employ a short term bridge contract to keep the AAV down? Should the team choose the latter, Haggerty speculates a deal similar to that given by Chicago to Artemi Panarin (two years, $12MM) could work for both sides. If Boston chooses the former, they might have to approach the value of the accord signed by Calgary winger Johnny Gaudreau last summer, in Haggerty’s estimation. According to Cap Friendly, the Bruins are projected to have around just $10MM in cap space available with Drew Stafford set to hit unrestricted free agency and Ryan Spooner joining Pastrnak as a RFA. The team should have room as it stands to accommodate a new Pastrnak contract regardless of whether it’s a lucrative long term pact or a shorter term bridge deal. Still, what Boston does will likely have a great impact on what other moves the team can make this summer to fill holes on the roster.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • One of the second round’s more interesting subplots involves Ottawa center Derick Brassard facing his old team, the New York Rangers, and the player for whom he was acquired just last July, fellow pivot Mika Zibanejad. Expecting to contend for the playoffs in 2016-17, Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion wanted to add the more experienced and established Brassard to his lineup. It also didn’t hurt that the skilled center from Hull, Quebec is a proven playoff performer known in some circles as “Big Game Brass.” For their part, the Rangers needed to get bigger and younger and did so by adding the talented Zibanejad to the team. Neither player had the regular season they hoped – Brassard finished with just 14 goals and 39 points while Zibanejad missed time with a broken leg and scored 37 points in 56 contests. With scoring expected to be at a premium in the series between Ottawa and New York, it was widely felt whoever performed better between the two would give their team a significant edge. Well, after one game, Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun has the two players even, though the Senators are up in the series. As Brennan noted, neither player registered a point and both finished with roughly 17 minutes of ice time. Brassard was credited with five shots on goal, Zibanejad with four. While it would be unfair to paint the winner of the series as also the winner of last summer’s trade, it’s evident the two players will be heavily relied upon to help their respective team advance to the Eastern Conference Final and at this point in the season that’s really all that matters.
  • With their 25-season playoff streak broken, the Detroit Red Wings enter the offseason with a lot of work to do to reshape their roster into a contender, and without the resources (i.e. cap space) to easily tackle the challenge. In all probability, the team will be forced seek roster improvement via the trade market and with limited chips the team can afford to move, it’s likely Detroit will have to deal one of their starting-caliber goalies, if for no other reason than to open up much-needed cap space. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press expressed the same belief in a recent mailbag feature. As the scribe notes, the Wings are currently projected to have less than $6MM in cap space with key forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar scheduled to be RFA’s. The offseason goalie market is expected to be full of starting options, with Pittsburgh likely to entertain a trade of Marc-Andre Fleury rather than risk losing Matt Murray in the expansion draft. Ben Bishop, Brian Elliott, Jonathan Bernier and Ryan Miller headline the UFA crop of netminders and could represent viable starting options for any team looking for a #1. Those factors will hamstring the Red Wings in their attempt to move either Jimmy Howard or Petr Mrazek in return for fair value. In all likelihood, the team will have to be satisfied primarily with cap relief as opposed to acquiring young assets to further their retooling effort. Although St. James does offer up one intriguing possibility, noting that current Stars GM Jim Nill, formerly an assistant GM in Detroit, knows Mrazek and Howard well from his time with the Wings and could pursue one in an effort to upgrade his options between the pipes.

Goalies Wanted: Teams With Desperate Need

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Goaltending is perhaps the most under-appreciated position in all the world of sport. While it is true that a team doesn’t need a dominant goaltender to win a Stanley Cup or even compete for one, a poor performance by a tender can absolutely destroy a season or a series. There are still a number of teams with question marks in net, and the premier talent isn’t exactly in abundance. The expansion draft further complicates matters for a number of teams, who will need to make a determination as to who will be the tender going forward. Here are three teams which desperately need solutions to their issues in the crease this off-season.

Winnipeg Jets – The team had three goaltenders this season. None of them played well. Michael Hutchinson is a dime-a-dozen depth goalie who is likely to be exposed, and the former starter Ondrej Pavelec is without a contract and never earned another.  The 23 year-old Connor Hellebuyck will be protected, and shows great promise. That said, his .907 save percentage and overall streakiness left a lot to be desired. Perhaps many of his struggles can be blamed on the lackluster defensive efforts in Winnipeg, but will Hellebuyck be ready to ascend to the next level next season? If not, will Jets fans be content with another year without hockey in mid-April? GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has always been reserved in terms of transactions, but perhaps now is the time for decisive action. In the ultra-competitive Central division, the Jets need to find a way to win tight games.

Calgary Flames – Brian Elliott looked like he had finally put it together under new coach Glen Gulutzan in the new year. And then it all fell apart. His first-round series against the Ducks was shockingly bad (.880) – he made simple point shots complete adventures and lacked any rebound control. With his team’s season on the line in Game 4, he ceded only one abysmal goal before being pulled. In light of his consistent struggles in St. Louis prior to his Calgary excursion, it’s fair to assume he will start as a backup elsewhere next year. Actual backup Chad Johnson, also not under contract, will likely be headed elsewhere. This team needs two goalies, and it’s difficult to foresee a route that doesn’t involve a trade. Marc-Andre Fleury will still be available, and Ben Bishop is sure to tempt many. The starter situation needs to be sorted immediately, and if need be, they can always circle back to Johnson for a short-term backup deal.

Dallas Stars – How can you spend so much money on goaltending and still have none of it? Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen. Niemi posted a .892 save percentage for $4.5 MM, and Lehtonen posted a .902 for $5 MM. The defense has been shored up (to a degree), but the goals still hit the twine with depressing frequency. With one season remaining on either goalie’s deal, one needs to be shipped out this off-season in favor of a more cost-effective (and hopefully generally effective) netminder. Under a new coach, a resurgence from either is possible, but it seems dangerous to gamble on that possibility. It’s possible that Vegas might want an extra large contract to hit the cap floor or veteran backup with a ring, but with the better options likely to be available, that seems unlikely. Perhaps a financially struggling franchise would be willing to take on an expensive backup, if the deal were sweetened.

Calgary Expected To Look Elsewhere For Goaltending

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The Hockey News Lyle Richardson believes Calgary Flames goaltender Brian Elliott’s tenure with the team is over. After a season of struggles, culminating getting pulled in Game 4 of their playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks, the team is expected to look elsewhere for help behind the net next season.

Elliott, who was acquired last year from the St. Louis Blues for a 2016 second-round pick (Jordan Kyrou) and a 2018 third-round pick, never put up the kind of season the Flames had hoped for. He finished the season with a 2.55 goals against in 49 contests and a .910 save percentage. Those numbers were way below his usual numbers. Last year for the Blues, he played in 41 games with a 2.07 GAA and a .930 save percentage. However, Elliott’s 3.88 GAA in the four playoff games against the Ducks left a lot to be desired by Calgary. A soft goal by Anaheim’s Patrick Eaves at 5:38 in the first period of Game 4, which was enough for Calgary head coach Glen Gulutzan to remove him in favor of Chad Johnson.

While Johnson, also an unrestricted free agent, may be retained by the Flames, both writers believe they will have to look at either the free agent or trade market to find their next goaltender.

Los Angeles Kings goaltender Ben Bishop may be at the top of their wishlist. Bishop, who is an unrestricted free agent, is the top goaltender on the market and Calgary came close to trading for him last offseason before choosing to trade for Elliott instead. He is coming off a two-year deal in which he made 4.76MM this year and was traded to Los Angeles in February. He fared well in 2015-16 in Tampa Bay, playing in 61 games and finishing with a 2.06 GAA and a .926 save percentage. However, he didn’t play as well this year, allowing a 2.55 GAA in 32 games with Tampa Bay and a 2.49 GAA in seven games with Los Angeles. Despite those struggles, many experts believe his price tag may be in the $7MM range as there are several teams on the market looking for goalies.

Other free agent options, according to Richardson are Philadelphia’s Steve Mason, Chicago’s Scott Darling and Ottawa’s Mike Condon. Mason, who had a monster rookie-year in 2009-10, has never been able to duplicate that (with the possible exception of the 2014-15 season). Darling has been a veteran backup for the Blackhawks and never had an opportunity to start full-time, while Condon has had some success, but also was both waived and traded for a fifth-round pick only a year ago.

The trade market could be another option for the Flames, as the Pittsburgh Penguins will likely look to move Marc-Andre Fleury after the great rookie season from goaltender Matt Murray. The 32-year-old netminder has shown he still has it, leading the Penguins to their first-round playoff series win over Columbus. However, his numbers don’t stand out that much as he finished the season with a 3.02 GAA in 32 contests this season.

The price for any goaltender may be high as many believe that the Winnipeg Jets, Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders could be looking for a netminder.

Evening Notes: Tavares, Fowler, Elliott, Prospects

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TSN’s “Insider Trading” segment is always good for some tidbits of news, and the trio of Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun, and Bob McKenzie delivered earlier today. We’ve compiled some of their more notable remarks below:

  • If the two sides can’t come to an agreement prior to the beginning of July, Dreger wouldn’t be shocked if the Islanders consider trading star John Tavares. While fans may not like to hear it, the insider believes the organization would be smart to get something for the All-Star. Of course, he notes that an extension isn’t necessarily less likely than a trade.
  • Cam Fowler has one year left on his deal, and LeBrun says the Ducks have had talks with the 25-year-old camp’s regarding an extension. With so many talented defensemen in the organization and the impending expansion draft, LeBrun says Anaheim needs to make a decision on Fowler sooner than later.
  • If prospect Colin White signs an entry-level contract and plays even one game for the Senators this season, he’ll essentially “burn” the first year of the contract. Bob McKenzie says that organization is “absolutely adamant” that they won’t compromise this flexibility, which could end up being a sticking point between the two sides. The reporter notes that the Senators would prefer to sign White to an amateur tryout agreement and have him finish the season with Binghamton in the AHL.
  • On the flip side, the Canucks are willing to “burn” the first season of Brock Boeser’s entry-level contract. Curiously, Vancouver is out of the playoff picture, so there isn’t a clear incentive to wasting the flexibility.
  • Brian Elliott would like to stick with the Flames, but LeBrun notes that the organization doesn’t want any distractions right now. The team is interested in retaining the goaltender, but they’d prefer to delay negotiations until after the season.

Minor Moves: Gillies, Froese, Bayreuther

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Brian Elliott is sick. Expected to start tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins and continue his recent hot streak, the netminder will be held off the ice entirely tonight. Chad Johnson will go in his stead, and Jon Gillies has been recalled to serve as the backup goaltender. This will serve as the prospect’s first taste of NHL action, despite him likely not getting onto the ice. According to Kristin Hallett of Flames TV, Gillies will be cutting it close for game time tonight as he caught a plane today to get to Calgary.

Wes Gilbertson of Postmedia reports that the Stockton Heat, where Gillies was set to play will be looking for an emergency backup of their own around San Diego. Emergency goalies are one of the best stories in hockey, ranging from video producers to bankers by day to professional hockey players by night. Someone in San Diego will likely be added to the trope tonight when the Heat take on the San Diego Gulls.

  • Byron Froese has been sent back down by the Tampa Bay Lightning after just a couple of days. The minor league forward played in one game while the Lightning continues to nurse Tyler Johnson and Vladislav Namestnikov back to health. Namestnikov played in Monday’s game as well, but aggravated the injury and is still questionable for tomorrow night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The re-assignment of Froese however does signal good news on one of the centers (no, it’s likely not Steven Stamkos).
  • After announcing his signing late last night, the Dallas Stars—or, more accurately the Texas Stars—have signed Gavin Bayreuther to an amateur tryout and will see him join the AHL squad right away. The NCAA standout should help them right away, though they don’t have any playoff aspirations any longer. Bayreuther will get some professional experience before trying to crack the Dallas team next fall.

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