Roster Moves: Auvitu, O’Connor, Dickinson
With the Holiday Roster Freeze still in effect for one more day, teams are headed back to the ice today after a (hopefully) restful Christmas. Six games are on the schedule for tonight, and teams are making minor moves to prepare their teams for the unofficial second half.
- In New Jersey, they’ve recalled Yohann Auvitu ahead of their matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight. Auvitu has played 23 games with the Devils this season filling in for various members of their blue line. The 27-year old French-born Auvitu is a rookie in North America this year despite playing in the Finnish leagues for many seasons. He has registered four points across his NHL time.
- The continuing Ottawa goaltending saga has another chapter today, as Matt O’Connor has been recalled once again to backup Mike Condon tonight. The Sens face the New York Rangers tonight, and Craig Anderson will not be with the team. With Andrew Hammond still on the shelf for a while, O’Connor will head to the arena to suit up again after playing last night in the AHL.
- Antoine Roussel hasn’t played since the 20th and will be out for a bit still. The forward was placed on IR today retroactive to his last game. Dallas has recalled Jason Dickinson in his absence, his second appearance in the NHL this season. Dickinson has 14 points in 19 games at the AHL level, and is starting to show the promise that made him a first round pick (29th overall) in 2013.
- The Maple Leafs have recalled goaltender Antoine Bibeau today with the club scheduled for a back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Leafs have played musical chairs with the backup goaltender of late, trying to get Bibeau as much ice time as possible while still having him with the NHL club if needed. Jhonas Enroth, signed in the offseason to be the primary backup to Frederik Andersen, has not performed well enough for the team to trust him any further.
- The Maple Leafs have also recalled both Byron Froese and Frederik Gauthier. The duo was with the team before the holiday break but was given the chance to play in the Marlies’ first game back yesterday. With Tyler Bozak still out and Ben Smith on IR, the team will use the two young centers for the immediate future.
Last Minute Reassignments: Bibeau, Froese, Gazdic, Helgeson (Updated)
UPDATE: (3:30pm): Mike Russo of the Star Tribune tweeted earlier today that the Minnesota Wild have loaned Pat Cannone and Jordan Schroeder to Iowa of the AHL. As Russo points out, the Wild won’t play again until Tuesday thanks to the holiday break while Iowa is slated to host Rockford Monday night. Russo does say that unless Erik Haula or Zach Parise is healthy enough to return Tuesday, the Wild will have to recall a player or two, meaning Cannone and/or Schroeder could be back with Minnesota sooner rather than later. Cannone, who finally made his NHL debut at the age of 30 and after six professional campaigns, was held off the score sheet in three appearances with the Wild.
(1:15pm): While the NHL’s holiday roster freeze officially began at midnight of December 20th, a provision allows teams to reassign or loan waiver-exempt players originally recalled by the parent club after December 11th back to their minor league affiliates. The deadline for those roster transactions passed at 11:59pm on December 23rd (last night). With a majority of AHL teams in action the day after Christmas, a couple of NHL clubs took the opportunity to reassign players to their affiliates with the intent of getting them some game action during the Christmas break.
- The New Jersey Devils announced via their official Twitter account that they have reassigned rugged forward Luke Gazdic and defenseman Seth Helgeson to Albany of the AHL. Gazdic has appeared in four games with New Jersey, failing to register a point while accumulating seven penalty minutes. In 13 contests for Albany, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound winger has two assists and 19 penalty minutes. Helgeson has seen action in just two games, also failing to record a point. (New Jersey Devils Roster)
- Goaltender Antoine Bibeau, along with forwards Frederik Gauthier and Byron Froese were loaned by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the AHL Toronto Marlies ahead of last night’s deadline, as reported by Cap Friendly. Meanwhile Jhonas Enroth was recalled from the minors to fill the void as the Leafs backup netminder. Bibeau has appeared in just one game, his NHL debut, this season for Toronto and took the loss in a 3-1 defeat on December 11th against Colorado. Gauthier tallied his first career NHL goal and has added an assist in three games this season for the Leafs while Froese is scoreless in two outings. Enroth was inked by the Leafs this summer to serve as Frederik Andersen‘s understudy but failed to win a game in four starts for Toronto and posted a GAA of nearly four. His last appearance for the Leafs came on November 30th in a loss at Calgary. Enroth has seen action in just one contest for the Marlies since his demotion to the AHL. (Toronto Maple Leafs roster)
Evening Snapshots: Carolina-Detroit, Toronto-Anaheim
A look at a couple of tonight’s games around the NHL:
- 7:45 pm: Per St. James, who spoke with Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, the game has been cancelled.
- 7:43pm: The next update looks to be in about 15 minutes tweets the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. More boos and St. James feesl the game may be called.
- 7:08pm: The Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan tweets that repairs continue on the coolant that is causing the problems. Another update will be at 7:30pm CST. Kulfan reports that the crowd booed the announcement, which is understandable after the game was supposed to begin at 6:00pm CST.
- The game tonight between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Detroit Red Wings will be delayed at least an hour (as of 6:55pm EST) due to a malfunctioning ice-cooling system. According to the team, they discovered a freon leak in the compressor and are working to fix the issue. Neither team has had its pre-game warmups yet, so fans are in for a bit of a wait. The Red Wings, however, are up against a time crunch because they play tomorrow night in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. According to Team President Don Waddell, the NHL imposes a “22-hour rule” between starts. That means that any game must start at least 22 hours before a team’s next start. If the ice cannot be repaired in time, the NHL may postpone the game to a mutually available time.
- If the Detroit Red Wings end up playing, they will be without Tomas Jurco, reports the Detroit Free Press’s Helene St. James. Jurco has the flu and is considered day-to-day. Since returning from back surgery, the Czech forward remains scoreless in nine games and is averaging less than ten minutes of playing time a game.
- Tonight’s matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs marks returns for two people: current Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, and current Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen. Carlyle coached the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2012-15 before management fired him midway through the 2014-15 season. Carlyle remained outside the NHL until the Ducks fired Bruce Boudreau and hired Carlyle this offseason. Andersen’s return pits him against his successor John Gibson. The Ducks decided to stick with the young Gibson, and trade the then-RFA Andersen to the Maple Leafs. Both goalies won the Jennings Trophy last year with the NHL’s fewest goals against.
Leafs Recall Enroth; Reassign Bibeau To AHL
The Maple Leafs have recalled goaltender Jhonas Enroth from their AHL affiliate in Toronto and reassigned fellow netminder Antoine Bibeau to the Marlies, according to James Mirtle of The Atlantic (Twitter link). Enroth struggled out of the gate for the Leafs after signing a free agent deal with the team in the offseason, posting a 3.94 GAA and a 0.872 Save % in six games. He was sent to the AHL after clearing waivers 10 days ago and has appeared in just one contest with the Marlies, stopping 24 of 27 shots in a Toronto win.
Bibeau made one start for the Leafs, backstopping the Leafs in a 3 – 1 loss to Colorado in the young net minder’s NHL debut. He allowed just two goals on 28 shots. Mirtle reports that the move is likely designed to get Bibeau more game action as the Leafs have just four games over the next 11 days and with Frederik Andersen playing well, it’s assumed the Danish goalie will get all of those starts.
The Leafs also added veteran Karri Ramo on an AHL PTO with the idea he would ultimately replace Enroth as Andersen’s understudy. However Ramo has struggled with the Marlies in three appearances in the minors. Ramo spent the summer recovering from major knee surgery and may simply need more playing time to round his game into shape.
Atlantic Division Snapshots: Yzerman, Beleskey, Bjugstad, Bibeau
The Tampa Bay Lightning entered the 2016-17 campaign as a popular pick to emerge from the Eastern Conference to compete for the Stanley Cup championship. While it’s still relatively early, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman is concerned with the team’s inconsistent play, though as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes, that concern is tempered by calm.
Entering tonight’s home contest against Washington, the Lightning boast a record of just 13 – 11 – 1 through their first 25 games and currently reside in fourth place in the Atlantic, seven points behind first place Montreal. If the postseason was to start today, Tampa would be on the outside looking in, one point behind the Capitals for the final wild card spot though Washington has played three fewer games. Despite their standing and the fact the team has lost four in a row, Yzerman is not interested in making a move simply to “shake things up.”
“If there’s an opportunity to make us a better team, I’m certainly willing to explore it. But I like our team. I like the character of our players. We’re very careful of the type of person we bring in and which players we move out. That isn’t going to change.”
The trouble of late, according to Yzerman, has been the team’s lackluster play in their own zone. As Smith notes, Tampa Bay has given up 19 goals over the last four games; a figure which could have been higher if not for the quality play of the team’s net minders.
It’s easy to understand Yzerman’s hesitation to try to solve the team’s problems via the trade market. At this point so few teams have the available salary cap space necessary to make more than minor deals.
If they do decide a deal is in order either at or near the trade deadline, the Lightning do have an appealing asset to market in goaltender Ben Bishop. Bishop, who has been a Vezina Trophy finalist twice in the last three seasons, is in the final year of his contract. With Andrei Vasilevskiy inking a three-year contract extension over the summer and presumably the team’s future starter, the Lightning could move Bishop to address other areas of need.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- Matt Beleskey of the Boston Bruins was knocked out of this afternoon’s game against Buffalo after absorbing a heavy hit from Sabres blue liner Taylor Fedun, writes Joe Haggerty of CSNNE. Beleskey suffered the lower-body injury late in the first period and his return was ruled out by the team soon thereafter. The gritty forward was a big-ticket free agent signing in the summer of 2015, inking a five-year, $19MM pact with Boston. This season he has struggled, scoring just two goals in 23 games for the Bruins.
- Struggling to find their way on the ice and having already relieved head coach Gerard Gallant of his duties, the Florida Panthers, under new bench boss Tom Rowe continue to tinker with the lineup in an effort to find some consistency. With Nick Bjugstad returning recently from injury, the team tried lining him up on the right side, instead of at his customary pivot position, to try to ease him back into the lineup. But after five games – and zero points for the 6-foot-6 center – Bjugstad is moving back to the middle, where Rowe feels he will be “more comfortable,” as Harvey Fialkov writes. Currently two points behind Washington for the second wild card slot in the East, Florida needs to improve their play if they want to qualify for the postseason for the second consecutive campaign and a return to normal production from Bjugstad would be a big help in that regard.
- Finally, with starting net minder Frederik Andersen battling an undisclosed illness and unable to practice yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Antoine Bibeau from the AHL on an emergency basis, according to Mike Augello (Twitter link). Elliotte Friedman adds that while Andersen is still expected to play, the team wanted certainty just in case, and with the Leafs in Vancouver to play the Canucks tonight, Toronto acted early as a precaution. Bibeau has yet to make his NHL debut and it appears unlikely he will do so tonight. While he has no big league experience, the 22-year-old goalie has appeared in 87 contests over the last three seasons with the Marlies.
How Will The Expansion Draft Impact Canadian Teams?
Continuing our look at different expansion draft angles, CBC’s Amy Cleveland examines how the draft will affect the seven teams in Canada. Laying out the rules for the draft, Cleveland looks further and prognosticates who she sees as “potentially protected” versus those players who would be “intriguing” in being exposed. She further writes that all seven Canadian teams will be able to protect the bulk of their important players. The Flames sit prettiest without any non-movement clauses in contracts while the Leafs and Senators have only one player with an NMC (Nathan Horton, and Dion Phaneuf respectively).
Below are Cleveland’s picks for each team. Going to CBC’s page with the story includes in depth reasoning behind each of Cleveland’s choices.
Calgary Flames
NMC protected players: None.
Potentially protected:
- Forwards Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Troy Brouwer, Michael Frolik, Mikael Backlund, Sam Bennett, Micheal Ferland
- Defencemen Dougie Hamilton, T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano
- Goalie Chad Johnson
Intriguing exposed:
- Matt Stajan (F), Lance Bouma (F), Brett Kulak (D)
Edmonton Oilers
NMC protected players: Milan Lucic (F), Andrej Sekera (D), Cam Talbot (G)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards: Lucic, Leon Draisaitl, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Patrick Maroon, Tyler Pitlick, Zack Kassian
- Defencemen: Sekera, Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson
- Goalie: Talbot
Intriguing exposed:
- Benoit Pouliot (F), Mark Letestu (F)
Montreal Canadiens
NMC protected players: Carey Price (G), Jeff Petry (D)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, Alexander Radulov, Max Pacioretty, Paul Byron, Andrew Shaw, Phillip Danault
- Defencemen Petry, Shea Weber, Nathan Beaulieu
- Goalie: Price
Intriguing exposed:
- Tomas Plekanec (F), Jacob De la Rose (F- RFA), Alexei Emelin (D), Greg Pateryn (D)
Ottawa Senators
NMC protected players: Dion Phaneuf (D)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards: Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Derick Brassard, Ryan Dzingel, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Curtis Lazar
- Defencemen: Phaneuf, Erik Karlsson, Cody Ceci
- Goalie: Craig Anderson
Intriguing exposed:
- Bobby Ryan (F), Marc Methot (D)
Toronto Maple Leafs
NMC protected players: Nathan Horton (F)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, Matt Martin, Connor Brown
- Defencemen Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Connor Carrick
- Goalie Frederik Andersen
Vancouver Canucks
NMC protected players: Loui Eriksson (F), Daniel Sedin (F), Henrik Sedin (F)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards: Eriksson, Sedin twins, Brandon Sutter, Bo Horvat, Markus Granlund, Jannik Hansen
- Defencemen Alexander Edler, Christopher Tanev, Erik Gudbranson
- Goalie Jacob Markstrom
Intriguing exposed:
- Sven Baertschi (F), Derek Dorsett (F), Luca Sbisa (D)
Winnipeg Jets
NMC protected players: Dustin Byfuglien (D), Toby Enstrom (D)
Potentially protected:
- Forwards: Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Adam Lowry
- Defencemen: Byfuglien, Enstrom, Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba
- Goalie Connor Hellebuyck
Intriguing exposed:
- Mathieu Perreault (F), Marko Dano (F), Mark Stuart (D)
Pacific Division Snapshots: Vermette, Puljujarvi, Kassian, Miller
As part of the team’s widespread youth movement, the Arizona Coyotes jettisoned Antoine Vermette, buying out the final season of the veteran pivot’s contract during the summer despite a solid 38-point showing in 2015-16. Several teams were interested in securing Vermette’s services but the 13-year pro elected to ink a two-year pact with the Ducks in the hopes he could add some scoring punch to the team’s bottom-six. While the $1.75MM annual investment is minimal, given the Ducks tight salary cap situation and with the need to re-sign Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell as restricted free agents, some felt that money was best utilized elsewhere. But Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register argues the signing is paying off just fine for Anaheim.
Vermette has tallied two goals and seven points in 12 contests while averaging 15:46 of ice time per game. He’s assumed the third line pivot position behind Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler but has the ability to slide up the lineup when needed. Always known for his abilities in the faceoff circle, Vermette has won two-thirds of his draws so far on the young season.
Stephens also notes that Ducks coach Randy Carlyle is comfortable using Vermette in his penalty-killing rotation as well as on the power play. To date, Carlyle has been pleased with Vermette: “We had a discussion on where I saw him being used and where I felt he would get an opportunity. I could guarantee him that he would get certain things but if he held up his end of the bargain. That’s what the plan was. And I think that you can ask him that we’ve help up our end of the bargain and he’s held up his end of the bargain.”
As long as Vermette continues to perform at this level, the Ducks appear to have made a quality, value signing.
More from around the Pacific Division:
- Edmonton is off to a rare good start but like many other teams in the league, injuries are starting to pile up for the Oilers, as Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal writes. Both Jesse Puljujarvi and Zack Kassian left Saturday’s game against the Islanders with injuries and did not return. Puljujarvi went down with what is being termed a Charley horse. Speaking from his own experience, Leavins termed the injury “short-term” but also noted that while the pain may be manageable, the stiffness might not be. The Oilers obviously decided not to risk it and scratched the Finnish winger for today’s game against Detroit. Kassian’s injury could be worse, according to Leavins. Head coach Todd McClellan called it a lower body injury but gave no other information. Leavins says the Oilers are at least fortunate that the rash of injuries have so far missed the team’s top players, noting that it would be much different if Connor McDavid, Oscar Klefbom or Cam Talbot went down for any length of time.
- Last night’s tilt between Vancouver and Toronto was a rough and tumble affair, as we wrote about earlier on Pro Hockey Rumors. At one point, Canucks goalie Ryan Miller left his crease to defend rookie blue liner Troy Stecher, who had been jumped by Toronto’s Matt Martin. Miller would then be confronted by Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, and after all was said and done, Miller was assessed two game misconduct penalties. By rule, that would automatically come with a minimum two-game suspension but as Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma tweets, the league has rescinded one of those game misconducts, meaning Miller will not face a suspension.
Maple Leafs Notes: Andersen, Griffith, Reimer
When Toronto Maple Leafs saw rookie Auston Matthews score four goals in a losing effort, it was a sign of things to come for the team this season. Despite scoring 21 goals in 6 games, and taking leads into the third period a handful of times, the team is 1-2-3 as they head into tonight’s matchup with the Florida Panthers.
Jamie McLennan of TSN broke down what he thinks is one of the key factors in their record and analyzed the weak play of Frederik Andersen. McLennan says that Andersen has allowed at least one “bad goal” in each game this season, deflating the team and allowing the opposition to come back. It’s not all bad for Andersen though, as the TSN panelist says that his team defense hasn’t helped him very much through the first few games. He’ll be in net when they take on the Panthers.
- Seth Griffith will work his way into the lineup for the Leafs tonight, his first game of the season since being claimed on waivers October 11th. The former Boston Bruin is a dangerous offensive talent that hasn’t been able to find his footing in the NHL thus far, but scored 77 points in 57 AHL games last season. He’ll start on the fourth line, taking Peter Holland‘s place alongside another recently claimed player in Ben Smith.
- James Reimer will make his return to Toronto as a member of the Florida Panthers tonight, though in a backup role to Roberto Luongo. While Reimer was somewhat of a divisive character among Leafs fans during his tenure with the team, he does rank among the leaders in many all-time categories among Toronto netminders. While he’ll most likely be remembered best for the collapse in game 7 against Boston three years ago, he also could have likely been a part of the re-build had they not decided to go after Andersen this summer.
Atlantic Division Snapshots: Maple Leafs, Babcock, Andersen, MacArthur, Howard
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won just one of their first three contests but by virtue of two overtime/shootout defeats, the team has accumulated four of a possible six points. As Mark Masters of TSN writes, Leafs bench boss Mike Babcock is “relatively pleased” with where his team sits in the standings.
“We’ve had an opportunity, I believe, to be 3-0. We’ve got four out of six points, which if you told me that before this started I would’ve said, ‘That’s fine,’ but we could’ve had more and I’m a bit greedy and so are the guys.”
Toronto is one of the youngest teams in the league, with six rookies – Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, Mitch Marner and Nikita Zaitsev – skating regular shifts for the Leafs. With that much youth it’s likely the team will understandably have plenty of ups and downs during the season. Babcock noted that the team’s top line, for example, which consists of Matthews, Nylander and Hyman, has some room to grow based on Wednesday’s performance against the Jets:
“I thought it was really dangerous offensively and not very good defensively.”
Toronto may or may not be ready to challenge for a playoff berth this season, but the arrow is certainly pointing up for a Leafs team that boasts a ton of young, high-end skill and talent.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- Also from the Masters piece, goaltender Frederik Andersen has struggled out of the gate as the Leafs new #1 goalie, posting a 3.61 GAA and a Save % of just 87.6% in three starts, but Andersen is not yet worried. “If you just look at stats it doesn’t look pretty, but I thought I played pretty well. Obviously, some small things I got to clean up and me and Stevey (goalie coach Steve Briere) got to work today in practice so small fixes. I’m not too worried.” The Leafs paid a steep price to land Andersen from the Ducks – a 2016 first-round pick and a 2017 second-round pick – then rewarded the Danish netminder with a five-year, $25MM contract with the belief he would solve the team’s longstanding issues in goal. It’s a small sample size of course, but so far Andersen has not lived up to expectations in Toronto.
- Veteran forward Clarke MacArthur, concussed during Ottawa’s initial intrasquad practice in training camp, is expected to join the Senators on their three-game, Western Canadian road trip beginning this weekend, writes Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen. MacArthur is still not close to playing and may have only recently started skating but the news is still encouraging. This is the fourth documented concussion within the last 18 months for the 31-year-old winger. The hope for the Senators, according to head coach Guy Boucher, is that just having MacArthur around the team on the trip will be good for him: “Obviously, he’s not going to play. We’re talking about being with the guys, being part of the routine. It would be good for him mentally, but we still haven’t 100% decided that.”
- For six seasons, Jimmy Howard was the #1 goalie for the Detroit Red Wings before losing the job to Petr Mrazek last season. Howard struggled in the backup role in 2015-16 but coming into the season knowing Mrazek would again be the starter has helped the veteran netminder adapt, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Said Howard: “I think I know how to handle the situation a lot better now. Last year I didn’t quite understand how to be the backup, never had been it before. So I fully understand the role now and how to stay mentally sharp in between starts.” Howard qualifies as an expensive backup with a contract that runs through the 2018-19 season and that calls for a cap hit of nearly $5.3MM per. Detroit was rumored to be looking to trade the 32-year-old goalie this summer and could do so again this offseason, assuming he isn’t claimed in the expansion draft by Las Vegas.
Ducks Expected To Make Trade Once Rakell, Lindholm Sign
According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Anaheim Ducks are going to have to make a deal after completing contracts with their currently pending restricted free agents Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm. As discussed on this site yesterday, Rakell isn’t any closer to a deal with the Ducks, however McKenzie does hear that the two sides are close on money and term and that it’s something else holding up the deal.
Either way, when Rakell and Lindholm come in for something around $9MM combined, the Ducks will be way over the cap and need to shed some salary. McKenzie says as much in a tweet today, in which he suggests that Cam Fowler will be the odd man out in Anaheim and be on the move while the ink is still drying.
If it is Fowler, one would imagine many teams would be after the 24-year old. The former first-round pick will have over 450 games in the NHL before his 25th birthday, bringing a mixture of youth and experience to whichever team lands him. Fowler is owed $8MM over the next two seasons, a fine number for a player who many would consider a top-4 defenseman. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent following the 2017-18 season, and be looking for a long-term deal.
The Ducks seemingly have painted themselves into a corner this summer, with the addition of Jonathan Bernier‘s deal. If Frederik Andersen being shipped to Toronto was a cost-saving measure, it has been completely undone by taking the former Leafs goaltender back. The Ducks are expected to start John Gibson for the majority of their games this season, despite making almost $2MM less than Bernier.
There is also the impending expansion draft, in which one of the Ducks young defenders is sure to be at risk, as the picture stands currently. If the team was to start moving pieces like Fowler out however, perhaps they’ll be able to keep their whole pipeline intact.