Snapshots: Dzingel, Rask, Matteau
After acquiring him from the Arizona Coyotes last night, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that forward Ryan Dzingel will be placed on waivers today, reports David Alter of The Leafs Nation (Tweet). If he clears, Dzingel will be assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, adds Alter. Dzingel, who has four goals and three assists in 26 games this season for the Coyotes, was acquired last night along with defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin in exchange for a conditional draft pick and forward Nick Ritchie. While it may seem odd to acquire Dzingel to immediately waive him, the move allows the Leafs to potentially keep the forward in the minors, alleviating them of his $1.1MM cap hit, and retain him as a useful depth player down the stretch. Also out of Maple Leafs’ camp, defenseman Rasmus Sandin has been sent down, purely for salary cap flexibility, and is expected to be recalled and rejoin the team Monday, reports the Athletic’s Jonas Siegel (link to tweet).
- Victor Rask, who cleared waivers for the Minnesota Wild yesterday, is expected to report to the AHL’s Iowa Wild in the coming days, reports the Athletic’s Michael Russo (link to tweet). Russo adds that while this process has been tough for Rask, he is expected to report to the AHL, and the Wild organization will give him several days. It’s been a difficult stretch for Rask, as this wasn’t his first time on waivers this season. The forward was placed on waivers and cleared in early January as well. Rask has five goals and eight assists in 29 games this season for Minnesota and is in the final year of a six-year, $24MM contract he signed in 2016, then with the Carolina Hurricanes. While Rask has not been terrible for Minnesota this season, placing his $4MM cap hit in the AHL could provide the Wild with flexibility heading into the trade deadline, where they are expected to be buyers on the market.
- Also of note, forward Stefan Matteau has been activated off of long-term injured reserve and has been assigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. The 27-year-old forward has played in just one game this season with the Colorado Avalanche back on October 16 before being placed on long-term injured reserve.
Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Ilya Lyubushkin, Ryan Dzingel
The Toronto Maple Leafs have added a pair of players tonight while moving out one frustrated winger. Ilya Lyubushkin and Ryan Dzingel are on their way to Toronto from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Nick Ritchie and a conditional draft pick. The Coyotes can select whether to receive Toronto’s third-round pick in 2023 or second-round pick in 2025. No salary is retained in the deal from either side.
Lyubushkin was referenced at the intermission of tonight’s Maple Leafs game by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, and now just after the loss to the St. Louis Blues, Toronto has made their move. The big defenseman would bring something that the team doesn’t have much of, size and physicality on the back end. Now 27, Lyubushkin has racked up nearly 500 hits in a 180-game career, including 94 already this season. That number would easily lead the Maple Leafs, who currently have Jake Muzzin on top of that list with 81. It’s beside Muzzin that Lyubushkin could even potentially play, giving the team some extra length in something of a shutdown pair. Toronto has been looking to add depth on the right side for some time, as Justin Holl has taken a step backward this year and Timothy Liljegren is still very early in his career.
In fact, this addition could spell trouble for Holl, who played the fewest minutes of any Toronto defenseman tonight and has struggled to fill the top-four role he had with Muzzin in years past. By bringing in another penalty-killing defenseman, it’s unclear what his role will be, though there will have to be a roster spot of some sort by the Maple Leafs tomorrow to create enough cap space. When the team recently acquired Adam Brooks off waivers it was Liljegren who went down for the day.
There is also the addition of Dzingel, however, who adds another forward to the mix for Toronto. A 26-goal scorer in 2018-19, he has just four goals and seven points in 26 games this season for the Coyotes playing in a bottom-six role. Even those four goals are more than Ritchie, who had just two in 33 games for the Maple Leafs despite starting the season with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The 26-year-old Ritchie had played his way right off the Toronto roster, recently having cleared waivers and been assigned to the minor leagues. From a Maple Leafs perspective, getting out from under Ritchie’s two-year deal may have been the most important part of the deal. He was set to earn $2.5MM against the cap again next year, something that a team working in the margins of the salary cap cannot afford if he’s not contributing.
Notably on Dzingel, if he fails to contribute anything, the Maple Leafs could bury his entire $1.1MM salary in the minor leagues. He would need to clear waivers to do it but that allows the team to not be stuck with any dead money if he isn’t a good fit. Lyubushkin meanwhile makes just $1.35MM against the cap, a reasonable number for a defenseman if he’s playing regularly and less than both Holl ($2MM) and Travis Dermott ($1.5MM) who was scratched again tonight.
As a member of the Coyotes, Ritchie certainly isn’t destined for the minor leagues. General manager Bill Armstrong explained that he was “excited” to add Ritchie to the roster, noting that he can give the team some more size and toughness. He also is a player signed for next season, something you can’t say about many other Coyotes. In fact, only Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Andrew Ladd, Jakob Chychrun, Conor Timmins, and Shayne Gostisbehere are on one-way contracts through next season, and several of them may find their way to other teams by the trade deadline. Ritchie, who did score 15 goals in 56 games for the Boston Bruins last season, could find his way to top-six minutes once again in the rebuilding Coyotes lineup.
For them, the big thing is adding another draft pick for expiring contracts. The Coyotes are hoarding selections in their rebuild and will be bringing a huge number of prospects into the system over the next few years.
East Notes: Chiarot, Lyubushkin, Poulin
There’s a gigantic Saturday night rumors dump, courtesy of Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada. It starts with maybe the most-discussed name on the trade bait list in recent days in Montreal Canadiens defender Ben Chiarot. Talks are reportedly heating up, with Friedman singling the St. Louis Blues on the program as a team interested in Chiarot’s services. It’s entirely likely that Chiarot is another name gone before the deadline, as the Habs certainly don’t seem to be afraid to get out ahead of the action. Chiarot would give the Blues three options with considerable NHL experience at left defense, as Niko Mikkola, Jake Walman, and the injured Scott Perunovich have competed for ice time there this season as well. But none of them have the games played and playoff experience at the NHL level that Chiarot has.
More notes from the Eastern Conference today:
- The Arizona Coyotes are holding Ilya Lyubushkin out of the lineup as a healthy scratch, and Friedman names the Toronto Maple Leafs as one of the top teams interested in the Russian defender’s services. With Nick Ritchie falling out of favor in Toronto, and Arizona’s willingness to take on buried contracts, the fit seems logical as Friedman suggests. Lyubushkin would be a spectacular depth add for Toronto’s right side defensively, who, aside from T.J. Brodie, has faced inconsistency this season.
- Jeff Marek reports that prior to the commencement of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Montreal Canadiens reached out to the representatives of Canadian women’s forward Marie-Philip Poulin about what her career plans were after the games, suggesting Montreal had an interest in having Poulin within the organization. While no official job offer was ever made, all indications point to Poulin wanting to continue her on-ice career. The 30-year-old forward still has multiple opportunities to represent Canada on the international stage.
Arizona Coyotes Place Two In COVID Protocol
Arizona Coyotes forward Christian Fischer and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol today, per a team tweet.
They become the fifth and sixth additions to Arizona’s COVID list. Liam O’Brien, Alex Galchenyuk, Jay Beagle, and Lawson Crouse.
Arizona, for the time being, is losing out on some solid defensive presences. Fischer had three goals and three assists through 22 games before entering protocol, and he’s one of the better defensive forwards on the Coyotes, though, and a skilled penalty killer. His presence there will be missed.
Lyubushkin had six assists through 29 games, and while he was averaging just 18:08 per game, he’s a good defender at even-strength.
Fischer and Lyubushkin, if they’re truly COVID positive, are eligible to return January 6 against Chicago if they’re healthy.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Ilya Lyubushkin To One-Year Extension
April 19: The Coyotes have made it official, signing Lyubushkin to a one-year deal. The team did not confirm the contract details, but GM Bill Armstrong did release a short statement on his big defenseman:
We are very pleased to sign Ilya to an extension. He is a big, tough, reliable defenseman who gives us a physical presence on our blue line. He is also a great teammate and we look forward to having him on our roster next season.
April 18: With five defensemen expected to hit unrestricted free agency this summer, the Arizona Coyotes have cut that number down to four as they have signed Ilya Lyubushkin to a one-year extension at $1.35MM, according to Coyotes’ reporter Craig Morgan. The deal is all base salary, according to PuckPedia.
The 27-year-old was originally signed by Arizona in 2018 to a one-year, entry-level contract after five years in the KHL, and has subsequently inked two more one-year deals each year. Now, make it four one-year deals. The 6-foot-2 Lyubushkin appeared in 41 games in 2018-19, 51 last year and despite having some visa issues, forcing him to start the season late, has appeared in 31 games so far this season.
While not an offensive defenseman by any means, Lyubushkin has proven to be a solid defensive player on the blueline, who is adept at blocking shots (52 blocks in 31 games) and doling out hits (77). With so many defensemen likely leaving via free agency for the 2021-22 season, the team wanted to ensure that they could depend on Lyubushkin for at least one more season as a third-pairing defenseman.