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Calvin Pickard

Edmonton Oilers Have Recalled Goaltender Calvin Pickard

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In a curious move the Edmonton Oilers recalled veteran goaltender Calvin Pickard from the Bakersfield Condors. The move was announced this morning by the Oilers; however, the team hasn’t commented on any reason for it. Stuart Skinner took most of the starts for Edmonton during the regular season and playoffs, however he was pulled in game four after allowing three goals on 11 shots. Jack Campbell came in to replace Skinner and performed admirably as he backstopped the Oilers to a comeback win to pull even with the Los Angeles Kings at two games each.

Pickard didn’t see any game action this season with Edmonton and has only played in 36 NHL games in the past six seasons. The former second round pick was once viewed as the goaltender of the future for the Colorado Avalanche after posting a save percentage over .920 in his first two NHL seasons. However, since those initial seasons Pickard hasn’t posted a single season with a save percentage above .900 and has bounced back and forth between the AHL and the NHL.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, is said by the Oilers about Pickard’s recall. The Oilers did practice this morning, with Oilers radio analyst Bob Stauffer observing that Stuart Skinner was in the starters net and TSN has reported that Skinner will indeed start game five. The debate amongst Edmonton fans since game four has been about who to start in net for game five after Campbell stood on his head stopping 27 of 28 shots. Campbell was expected to be the starter for the Oilers coming into this season but lost the net as he struggled with a .888 save percentage in just 36 games. Skinner jumped on the opportunity to start and posted a .913 save percentage in 50 games.

Edmonton Oilers Reassign Calvin Pickard

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Jan 15: With Skinner now back with the team, the Oilers have returned Pickard to the Bakersfield Condors, per the team. As expected, he didn’t see any game action.

Jan 10: The Edmonton Oilers will be without Stuart Skinner for a couple of days, as Mark Spector of Sportsnet reports that he is flying home to be with his expecting wife. In his place, the team has recalled Calvin Pickard from the minor leagues under emergency conditions. Given the team was already at the maximum of 23 players, they will likely move Skinner to non-roster status while he is away.

Pickard, 30, is the definition of a journeyman goaltender. Starting his career with the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL, he then played for the Colorado Avalanche, San Antonio Rampage, Toronto Marlies, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Arizona Coyotes, Tucson Roadrunners, Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit Red Wings, and Vienna in the Austrian league before joining the Bakersfield Condors this season.

The veteran netminder has posted a .909 save percentage in 10 appearances for Bakersfield this season, and will likely just serve as backup while Skinner is away.

That means Jack Campbell will get the start, as he continues to try and get his season back on track. After signing a five-year, $25MM contract in the offseason, Campbell (who turned 31 yesterday) has an .877 save percentage in 19 appearances, allowing at least three goals in 13 of them. The Oilers, who are struggling to even stay above .500 these days, will face the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow before back-to-back games against the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights starting on Friday.

Waivers: 10/06/22

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Another day, another set of players on waivers as the regular season approaches. Everyone from yesterday cleared, while today’s group looks like this:

Boston Bruins

Vinni Lettieri
Joona Koppanen
Dan Renouf
Keith Kinkaid

Colorado Avalanche

Jayson Megna

Edmonton Oilers

Calvin Pickard
Slater Koekkoek

Los Angeles Kings

Lias Andersson

New York Rangers

Jonny Brodzinski

Edmonton Oilers Update Smith Status; Sign Pickard

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The Edmonton Oilers have their starting goaltender in Jack Campbell, and now they have a third-string option as well. The Oilers are bringing in Calvin Pickard to play behind Campbell and Stuart Skinner on a two-year, two-way contract. The deal carries an average annual value of $762.5K

That leaves Mike Smith on the outside, and general manager Ken Holland updated the veteran’s status today. “I’m not expecting Smitty to play this year,” Holland told reporters including Jason Gregor of TSN, explaining why they needed someone like Pickard to come into the organization.

Smith, 40, is expected to move to long-term injured reserve as he deals with “several” chronic injuries. That will give the Oilers some additional cap flexibility, and potentially end Smith’s career after 670 regular season appearances. His overall record with Edmonton during that time was 56-27-10 with a .913 save percentage, helping the club all the way to the Western Conference Finals this year.

If it is the end, he finishes 36th all-time in games played by a goaltender, 40th all-time in wins. Not a Hall of Fame candidate, but a good goaltender for a very long time in the league.

Pickard, meanwhile, spent most of this season in the minor leagues, posting a .918 with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The 30-year-old has bounced around the league for the last decade, appearing in 116 NHL contests.

While he represents a solid minor league option, if he’s playing regularly for the Oilers this season they will be in trouble.

Red Wings Notes: Gagner, Greiss, Hellberg, Pickard

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Red Wings center Sam Gagner is set to reach unrestricted free agency this summer but the 32-year-old told Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press that he’s hoping to re-sign with Detroit.  Gagner has had a decent season with 12 goals and 16 assists in 73 contests despite averaging just over 13 minutes a game of playing time.  That’s a pretty good return on a one-year, $850K contract, one that GM Steve Yzerman has given Gagner in each of the last two seasons.  If the veteran – who is just 41 games shy of reaching the 1,000 mark for his career – is willing to make it three years in a row at that price tag, keeping him around would certainly make some sense for Detroit as a capable depth veteran.

More from Detroit:

  • James suggests in a separate column that the Red Wings aren’t expected to offer Thomas Greiss a contract for next season. The 36-year-old netminder was brought in to be a stable platoon option between the pipes and while he did exactly that last year, that hasn’t been the case in 2021-22 as he has a SV% of just .892 along with a 3.56 GAA in 28 appearances.  Greiss’ track record could still get him a look on a one-year deal this summer but it’ll be considerably lower than the $3.6MM AAV he has on his current contract.
  • The timing of Magnus Hellberg’s one-year deal through the rest of this season seemed curious but fellow goalie Alex Nedeljkovic indicated to Max Bultman of The Athletic (subscription link) that there had been rumors of Hellberg signing for a little while and that visa issues were holding up the announcement. By the time Hellberg gets through the immigration process, he may only be available to dress for the final few games and if they were looking to sign him closer to the trade deadline as Nedeljkovic inferred, they’re likely to give the 31-year-old a few starts.
  • The Red Wings also aren’t likely to bring back veteran goaltender Calvin Pickard next season, notes Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. The 29-year-old (who is currently up with Detroit on emergency recall but is injured) is in his third season with the team and has seen NHL action in each of those years.  This season, he has a 2.58 GAA along with a .918 SV% with AHL Grand Rapids but with top prospect Sebastian Cossa set to turn pro next season, the Red Wings will want to ensure he has ample game action with the Griffins which will likely push them to let Pickard hit the open market.

14 Players Clear Waivers

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Sunday: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that all 14 names from yesterday have cleared waivers.

Saturday: As expected, it’s another busy day on the waiver wire with opening rosters being submitted to the NHL on Monday.  Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star and TSN reports (Twitter links) that the following 14 players are on waivers today:

D John Moore (BOS)
F Chris Wagner (BOS)
F Byron Froese (CGY)
F Justin Kirkland (CGY)
G Calvin Pickard (DET)
D Thomas Hickey (NYI)
F Richard Panik (NYI)
F Anthony Angello (PIT)
F Dylan Gambrell (SJ)
F Logan Brown (STL)
F Mackenzie MacEachern (STL)
D Alex Biega (TOR)
F Kurtis Gabriel (TOR)
D Michal Kempny (WSH)

As expected, today’s list is a little more interesting as teams get closer to making their final cuts with more notable players.  Several veterans are on the wire today, headlined by Kempny and Moore on the back end.  Both players are coming off injury-plagued seasons (Achilles for Kempny, hip for Moore) and could benefit from some regular action in the minors to get back into playing shape.  If they clear, Washington and Boston would only receive $1.125MM in cap relief; Kempny carries a $2.5MM AAV for this season while Moore is at $2.75MM for the next two seasons.

Up front, Panik and Wagner are a pair of veterans that have considerable NHL experience.  Panik split last season between the Capitals and Red Wings, picking up 13 points in 48 games.  Detroit is retaining half of his $2.75MM AAV, meaning that if he was claimed, the team that picks him up would only be carrying him at $1.375MM.  Wagner is in the second season of a three-year deal with a $1.35MM AAV and while his production tumbled last season to just five points in 41 games with the Bruins, he has been one of the more physical players in the league in recent years.  Again, if they clear, those teams would only get $1.125MM in cap space.

Brown’s stint with his hometown team didn’t go particularly well evidently with him being on waivers so quickly.  As part of the trade from Ottawa, the Senators will send a fourth-round pick to the Blues if the 2016 first-round pick doesn’t play in 30 games with St. Louis.  All of a sudden, that pick looks a lot likelier to transfer.

Among the other forwards, Angello and Gambrell are somewhat interesting as well.  Angello played in 19 games on the fourth line with the Penguins last season, picking up four points along with 51 hits and actually carries a cap hit that’s $25K below the league minimum which could be appealing to cap-strapped teams.  As for Gambrell, he has played in 99 games with the Sharks over the last two seasons and logged over 16 minutes a game for them last season.  He was a highly-speculated candidate to be selected by Seattle in expansion although they went with Alexander True instead.  Gambrell makes $1.1MM this season and is controllable through arbitration through 2024.

Red Wings Re-Sign Sam Gagner And Calvin Pickard

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The Red Wings are bringing back a pair of veterans, announcing (Twitter links) that they’ve re-signed Sam Gagner and Calvin Pickard to one-year contracts.  PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that Gagner’s deal is for $850K.

The 31-year-old Gagner was acquired by Detroit back at the 2019 trade deadline for salary matching purposes in the trade that brought Andreas Athanasiou to Edmonton.  He did well enough in his brief stint with the Red Wings to earn a one-year deal last summer, albeit at a significant pay cut as he went from a $3.15MM AAV to just $850K in the process.  He played in 42 games with Detroit last season, notching seven goals and eight assists and should once again fill a depth role.

As for Pickard, he spent most of the year on Detroit’s taxi squad as their third-string option.  He wound up getting in just six games with the Red Wings, posting a 3.16 GAA with a .874 SV% while suiting up only three times with AHL Grand Rapids.  He’ll be expected to play much more with the Griffins next season with Alex Nedeljkovic and Thomas Greiss comprising Detroit’s goaltending tandem with the 29-year-old Pickard serving as veteran depth once again.

Two Players Clear Waivers

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May 10: Both players have cleared waivers.

May 9: The waiver wire has been relatively quiet over the past month but a pair of players are on the wire today as CapFriendly reports (Twitter links) that Detroit goaltender Calvin Pickard and Anaheim center Sam Carrick have both been waived.  The intention for both teams is to get their respective veterans back to the AHL for the final few games with the Ducks’ affiliate also set to take part in the Pacific Division playoffs.  Pickard had been on recall long enough to require waivers to go back down while Carrick had played in more than ten games, necessitating his placement.

Pickard has spent the majority of the season on the taxi squad for the Red Wings although he has managed to get into six games with Detroit, including four starts.  In those contests, he posted a 3.16 GAA with a save percentage of .874.  He suited up just once with AHL Grand Rapids this season but will now have a chance to get into a few more games over the final week.  The 29-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

As for Carrick, he was relatively productive in his time with the Ducks this season, posting two goals and four assists in 13 games while averaging just under 13 minutes per game.  That more than doubled his career point output over parts of four previous years with Toronto and Anaheim.  Carrick has also been productive with AHL San Diego, picking up 14 goals and 10 helpers in 27 games, sitting fifth in team scoring despite playing in just three games in the minors since the end of March.  Like Pickard, the 29-year-old will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

It’s worth noting that players claimed off waivers after the trade deadline are ineligible to play for the remainder of the season.  As a result, there’s little reason for anyone to place a claim and assuming they clear on Monday, they’ll be able to return to their respective AHL teams.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/14/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 Protocol. The league is still awaiting updated lists from the Sabres and Avalanche, but the following are the complete results from the other 29 teams:

Arizona – John Hayden
Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou
Minnesota –  Nick Bonino, Jonas Brodin, Ian Cole, Brad Hunt, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Dmitry Kulikov, Travis Zajac
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil
Ottawa – Ryan Dzingel*
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Morgan Frost, Claude Giroux, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom, Jakub Voracek, Travis Konecny*
Vegas – Tomas Nosek

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres; Calvin Pickard, Detroit Red Wings; Blake Lizotte, Los Angeles Kings; Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Jack Hughes, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, New Jersey Devils; Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers; Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning

It’s another strong net positive day for the CPRA. The only true addition to the list comes in the form of Flyers forward Konecny. The other addition, Dzingel, has entered the required quarantine period for any player crossing into Canada after he was dealt to Ottawa by Carolina on Saturday, but by all accounts has not qualified for any other reason. Meanwhile, the Red Wings and Lightning wipe the slate clean while the Devils take a major step forward with eight players coming off the list. Joining Dahlin back at Sabres practice today was also head coach Ralph Krueger, a welcome sight after his own bout with Coronavirus.

While the situations in Buffalo and Colorado remain undetermined at this point, the Devils appear to be on the mend and Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason stated that he expects some of his players to begin coming off the list soon as well. If the situation in Philadelphia can be sorted out – especially with their Lake Tahoe game coming up next weekend – the NHL could be looking at a refreshingly short CPRA by this time next week.

 

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/13/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. On a positive note, no new players have been put on the list, but quite a few have been removed from the list. The Los Angeles Kings list is being put together now, but there has been a report from John Hoven that both Blake Lizotte and Andreas Athanasiou are both off the list:

Arizona – John Hayden
Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Detroit – Calvin Pickard
Los Angeles – TBA
Minnesota –  Nick Bonino, Jonas Brodin, Ian Cole, Brad Hunt, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Dmitry Kulikov, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Morgan Frost, Claude Giroux, Travis Sanheim, Jakub Voracek, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom*
Tampa Bay – Steven Stamkos
Vegas – Tomas Nosek

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Taylor Hall (Sabres), Ryan Carpenter (Chicago), Andreas Johnsson (Devils), Janne Kuokkanen (Devils), Michael McLeod (Devils), Kyle Palmieri (Devils), Pavel Zacha (Devils); Anthony Duclair (Panthers), Jesse Puljujarvi (Oilers), , Marcus Johansson (Wild), Jared Spurgeon (Wild), Joel Eriksson Ek (Wild), Nick Bjugstad (Wild)

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