Minor Transactions: 2/25/18
With the trade deadline coming to a fast-moving finish tomorrow, plenty of teams will need to make adjustments to their roster today. Check in to see what teams are up to:
- The Minnesota Wild have recalled two players to the team in forward Joel Eriksson-Ek and defenseman Nick Seeler from the Iowa Wild. For Eriksson-Ek, the move is just a way to save some salary cap space. For Seeler, he returns after almost two weeks after being sent back to the Iowa Wild. The 24-year-old defenseman has played six games for Minnesota, while playing most of the season with Iowa where he’s played 49 games.
- The New Jersey Devils have assigned center John Quenneville to the Binghampton Devils of the AHL. He had been sidelined since Feb. 10 with a knee injury. The former 2014 first-rounder has played in just two games for New Jersey. In Binghampton, he has 10 goals and 11 assists in 31 games this season.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned recently acquired forward Vincent Dunn to his team in the ECHL, the Brampton Beast Sunday. Dunn, who the team got from the Ottawa Senators in the Derrick Brassard trade Friday, started the year with the Belleville Senators in the AHL, but got demoted to the Beast. The Penguins will keep the 22-year-old with his former team, rather than sending him to one of their affiliates. Dunn has seven goals and an assist in 17 games for Brampton, but tallied just four assists in 16 games with Belleville.
Minor Transactions: 02/02/18
Last night had some interesting moments around the NHL, including Henrik Lundqvist getting pulled in his second consecutive game, Radko Gudas continuing his over-the-line physicality, and Jake Allen being swept out of the net before a Bruins goal. With the weekend coming up and teams trying to fix problems or find solutions, we’ll keep track of all the minor movement around the league.
- The New Jersey Devils have assigned Steven Santini to the AHL, recalling John Quenneville in his place. Additionally, Jimmy Hayes has been sent down on a conditioning stint to get in some game action. Quenneville is a first-round pick that the Devils still have high hopes for, who has scored 21 points in 31 AHL games this year.
- Markus Hannikainen is back up with the Columbus Blue Jackets after a very short trip to the minor leagues, rejoining the team before their game against the Sharks tonight. Hannikainen has just four points in 27 NHL games this season.
- Jean-Sebastien Dea has been sent back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL to make room for Carter Rowney as he comes off injured reserve. Dea has one goal in five games with the Pittsburgh Penguins this season.
- The Edmonton Oilers have sent Laurent Brossoit back down after he filled in for a sick Cam Talbot yesterday. Brossoit will return to the Bakersfield Condors where he has a .916 save percentage. The 24-year old goaltender was pushed out of the backup role by the incoming Al Montoya, who allowed four goals and lost last night to the Colorado Avalanche.
- The Boston Bruins have ended Peter Cehlarik‘s latest call-up, sending him back to Providence today. Cehlarik was up under emergency conditions, and played in last night’s game. The 22-year old forward isstill waiting for his first real full-time shot with the team.
- Mike Liambas, who has been on injured reserve for the last few months, has been reassigned by the Anaheim Ducks. Liambas will go to the minor leagues where he has spent almost his entire career up to this point. In eight career NHL games, the 28-year old tough guy has a single assist.
- Adin Hill has been recalled by the Arizona Coyotes after Antti Raanta was involved in a car accident before the game last night. Raanta avoided serious injury, but Hill will be brought up just in case.
- Nikita Scherbak is on his way up to the Montreal Canadiens, There will have to be a corresponding move made to make room on the roster, but that could easily be transferring Phillip Danault to injured reserve. Danault skated again today, but hasn’t played since January 13th due to a concussion.
Metropolitan Notes: Pittsburgh’s Center Search, Quenneville, Severson
After losing Nick Bonino to Nashville in free agency, the Penguins have a vacancy to fill at their third line center position. In a reader chat, Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that the team has only earmarked roughly $2MM towards filling that spot which will limit their options.
While the Pens have more than $10MM in cap space at the moment, most of that will be spent when they reach new deals with winger Conor Sheary and defenseman Brian Dumoulin, both of whom are expected to go through arbitration.
The remaining UFA market is largely weak down the middle aside from Mike Fisher (who isn’t expected to leave Nashville if he returns for another season). As things stand, Matt Cullen, Pittsburgh’s fourth line pivot this past season, is one of the more prominent names available. Accordingly, that spot is likely going to be filled via the trade market but it’s reasonable to expect that nothing much will happen on that front until they get their remaining restricted free agents re-signed first.
Other notes from the Metropolitan:
- Although he was drafted as a center, the Devils feel John Quenneville is best suited as a winger moving forward, AHL bench boss Rick Kowalsky told NJ Advance Media’s Chris Ryan. Kowalsky added that the 21-year-old is comfortable on both wings which could help get him to the NHL quicker. New Jersey has a lot of talent down the middle and added number one pick Nico Hischier as well as bottom six center Brian Boyle to the mix this offseason so a position change for their top pick in 2014 was already looking like a likely outcome.
- Still with the Devils, GM Ray Shero noted to The Record’s Andrew Gross that there’s no rush to lock up RFA blueliner Damon Severson. The 22-year-old is coming off his entry-level contract and didn’t have arbitration rights this offseason. Shero added that there are several different options when it comes to Severson which suggests they will be exploring short-term and long-term offers in the weeks ahead.