Senators Preparing To Move Players
Following a convincing 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins last night – the same team they knocked out in the playoffs last season yet trail by 15 points in 2017-18 – the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch writes that GM Pierre Dorion is ready to make some changes. It has been well reported to this point that the Senator’s struggles this season are real and, with the franchise’s future offering more questions than answers, there is a possibility of a fire sale and rebuild in the near future.
While earlier reports indicated that all-world defenseman Erik Karlsson may even be up for grabs, Garrioch says that Dorion has changed his tune, with the word being that Karlsson and young winger Mark Stone are the only untouchables on the Senators roster. Logic would dictate that promising rookies Thomas Chabot and Filip Chlapik are likely on that list as well, but the entire remainder of the roster could be up for grabs at the right price.
The shortlist offered up by Garrioch of the top trade bait includes winger Mike Hoffman, centers Derick Brassard and Jean-Gabriel Pageau and young defenseman Cody Ceci. While they might be harder to move, the team would surely like to get rid of Bobby Ryan and Dion Phaneuf as well. Of that group, the most intriguing name is definitely Hoffman, who by every metric is a top six scoring winger and would be of major interest to many teams across the league. While he may net the Senators a strong return, Hoffman is signed through 2020 at a reasonable $5.2MM and may be a player that Ottawa would regret moving on from.
Changes are coming to Ottawa. It could be a major trade tomorrow or it could be a series of smaller moves up until the Trade Deadline or perhaps even this off-season. However, Dorion is ready to make moves now and, with few pure sellers at this point in the season, the Senators will be a team to watch for the remainder of the 2017-18 campaign.
Minor Transactions: 12/21/17
Who cares about a roster freeze. Despite the fact that teams can’t trade or waive players, there was quite a bit of movement around the league yesterday. Today is expected to be no different, and we’ll keep an eye on all the minor moves right here. Make sure to refresh throughout the day to keep up.
- The Montreal Canadiens recalled Brett Lernout late last night, bringing the young defender up to the NHL for the first time this season. Lernout, 22, has three games under his belt for the Canadiens in the past, and will be another option for the team while Shea Weber nurses his foot injury.
- The Washington Capitals have recalled Madison Bowey and Jakub Vrana back to the minor leagues once again, after executing a paper transaction yesterday to save some cap room. After reclaiming Nathan Walker off waivers yesterday, the Capitals are pushed right up against the salary cap and need to bank as much room on a day to day basis as possible. With Bowey and Vrana both playing well, neither are expected to actually leave the roster for any games.
- The Ottawa Senators have recalled Andreas Englund from the AHL, giving them another defensive option for their three-game road trip. In a corresponding move, the team has placed Gabriel Dumont on injured reserve in order to make room for Englund on the roster.
- The Boston Bruins have recalled Colby Cave from the AHL for the first time in his career, as Brad Marchand, Ryan Spooner and Riley Nash all deal with the flu. The trio are all game-time decisions for the team’s game against the Jets.
- Tyler Bertuzzi is back up with the Detroit Red Wings, a week after being sent down. Bertuzzi has played just a single game with the Red Wings this season, but is a player they still hope can grow into something special. It’s not clear if Bertuzzi will get into the lineup right away, but with Luke Glendening suffering a hand injury yesterday there could be room for the young forward.
Ottawa Senators Recall Filip Chlapik
The Ottawa Senators have recalled Filip Chlapik, bringing the 20-year old forward up despite the roster freeze. Remember, teams are only prevented from trading, waiving or loaning players during this period and even then some loopholes exist.
Chlapik will be a breath of fresh air for Senators fans, waiting for the team to find any modicum of success this season. The team sits 29th in the standings, and has just nine regulation wins this season. The young forward certainly has the talent to help, after putting up 15 points in 27 games as a rookie this season for the Belleville Senators of the AHL. That comes after the second-round pick dominated the QMJHL last season with 110 points in 70 total games.
He played one game earlier in the season for the Senators, and recorded an assist in fewer than seven minutes of ice time. At this point in the season, Ottawa has little to lose by giving a player like this an extended look, though it’s not clear if that is the plan at the moment. Instead, he may be up just as insurance for the three-game road trip that the team is about to take.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: New York Rangers
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will look at what teams are thankful for as the season nears the quarter point of completion. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We take a look at what’s gone well in the first month and what could improve as the season rolls on. So far we’ve covered the following teams: ANA, ARZ, BOS, BUF, CGY, CAR, CBJ, COL, DET, FLA, LAK, NSH, NJD, NYI, STL, TOR, and VAN.
What are the Rangers most thankful for?
That it’s a long season.
What could have been a disastrous start to the season after the team began the year with a 3-7-2 record and there was talk of the team firing coach Alain Vigneault. However, that talk died away after the team won six in a row and has gone 12-4 since that point as they now sport a 15-11-2 record. With the fortune of playing in a busy Metropolitan Division, the team is regaining ground in hopes of reaching the playoffs again this year. Granted, they aren’t there yet, but the Rangers have seen some success and are trending in the right direction.
Who are the Rangers most thankful for?
Not that Derek Stepan was that great of a center to begin with, but there were many questions after the team traded away their number one center to Arizona whether anyone could fill that void. Yet Zibanejad has done just that. He is tied for the team in points with 22 and is the team’s second-leading scorer. The 24-year-old, despite a recent concussion injury, has taken control of the team’s top power play unit and penalty killing units and has been a key piece to the Rangers future. After putting up just 37 points in 56 games last year, Zibanejad should easily be able to surpass that this year.
What would the Rangers be even more thankful for?
That goaltender Henrik Lundqvist finds the fountain of youth. At age 35, the veteran netminder’s best days are likely behind him, but the team still needs the veteran to hold up for a few years more, most especially this year. Through 24 games, Lundqvist has a 2.77 GAA and a .916 save percentage, but much of that was his early season struggles as he carried a 3.21 GAA and a .898 save percentage in the month of October. His November was much stronger, however, with a much more respectable 2.34 GAA and a .927 save percentage. If he can maintain numbers like that, then the Rangers have a good chance of climbing up higher in the standings and earning a playoff spot.
What should be on the Rangers’ Holiday Wish List?
The continued development of their youth. A lot of hope for a solid youth movement came and went at the start of the season when it looked like 2017 first-rounders Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil would make the Rangers roster out of training camp. Instead, Andersson was deemed not ready and sent back to Sweden, while Chytil made the team, but struggled and was reassigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. The team had high hopes for Andersson especially as the Rangers traded Stepan for his rights and young defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, who also struggled in New York, and now plays in Hartford as well. So far, trading away Stepan hasn’t shown much, even if it might in the future.
Major Three-Way Trade Falls Through
As TSN’s Darren Dreger artfully puts it, “things get complicated when big trades don’t go down.” It’s a rare occurrence in hockey that substantial details regarding a would-be deal are leaked, but such was the case yesterday. Late last night, Dreger reported that a massive three-team deal between the Colorado Avalanche, Ottawa Senators, and Nashville Predators had fallen through. Now, as Dreger says, teams are in “damage control” today as they try to clean up the mess that a rumored trade of this magnitude.
The specifics of the deal are allegedly this: Matt Duchene, the topic of trade rumors for the last year, would have gone to Ottawa. Kyle Turris, who the Senators have struggled to re-sign to their perceived fair value before he hits free agency this summer, would have gone to Nashville (probably with some additional considerations). Presumably, the bulk of the return headed to Colorado would then have come from the Predators. Some are speculating that one of Nashville’s “big four”, Mattias Ekholm, may have been involved in the deal, but considering that Avalanche GM Joe Sakic was the one who reportedly nixed the deal, unhappy with his return, it seems unlikely that Ekholm was part of the final offer.
So what now? It’s long been known that a) Duchene does not want to be in Colorado and is likely to be moved eventually and b) that Senators GM Pierre Dorion has taken a liking to Duchene and has been working to acquire him since this summer. Even without Nashville as part of the deal, this is a trade that can get done with a meeting of the minds. Ottawa has intriguing prospects like Thomas Chabot, Logan Brown, Colin White, and Filip Chlapik that have to interest a rebuilding Colorado squad, while roster players like Cody Ceci and Jean-Gabriel Pageau will inevitably enter the conversation as well. In the meantime though, these trade rumors will make the prospect of re-signing Turris at all, never mind below market value, a tough task for Dorion. Duchene deal or not, Turris’ days seem numbered in Ottawa.
Senators Activate Colin White, Assign Him And Two Others To AHL
The Senators are starting to get a bit healthier up front which has forced them to make some roster moves. The team announced (via Twitter) that they’ve assigned centers Max McCormick and Filip Chlapik to Belleville of the AHL. This comes on the heels of Zack Smith returning from an upper-body injury on Friday while Kyle Turris, who has missed the last two games due to illness, is expected to be available for their next game on Monday night.
Chlapik, who was just recalled back on Wednesday, recorded an assist in his lone game with the big club but was a scratch on Friday night. As for McCormick, he was held off the scoresheet in his two contests.
The team also activated center Colin White off season-opening injury reserve and revealed (Twitter links) that he has also been sent to Belleville. However, he has not yet been given the green light to play this weekend but is likely to be in their lineup next week.
White was expected to push for a full-time spot in training camp after finishing last season in Ottawa but broke his wrist in the early going. Once he gets into game action, it will be interesting to see how long he stays down there as while the team is hopeful that he can be an impact player sooner than later, he only has six games of professional experience under his belt (including the playoffs) so from a development perspective, he would certainly benefit from an extended stint in the minors.
Senators Recall Filip Chlapik And Jack Rodewald
The Senators announced (via Twitter) a pair of recalls up front; they’ve summoned center Filip Chlapik and winger Jack Rodewald from their AHL affiliate in Belleville. It’s the first NHL recall for both players.
Chlapik was Ottawa’s second-round pick (48th overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and is in his first professional season. He was in the mix for a roster spot at the beginning of training camp with the injuries up front but instead, that spot went to Logan Brown, who was returned to Windsor of the OHL earlier today. The 20-year-old has three assists in seven games with Belleville.
As for Rodewald, it has been quite the week for him. The undrafted winger was off to a strong start in the minors with three goals and an assist through five games and landed his entry-level contract at the age of 23 just yesterday. That’s quite a jump for a player who has seen action at the ECHL level in each of the past two seasons.
With the roster moves, the Sens are back up to 13 healthy forwards (with Bobby Ryan, Zack Smith, and Clarke MacArthur all on injured reserve plus Colin White on season-opening injured reserve). As a result, at least one of Chlapik or Rodewald will make their NHL debut on Thursday night as Ottawa plays host to Philadelphia.