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Jordan Oesterle

Flames Recall Jordan Oesterle

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The Calgary Flames have recalled defenseman Jordan Oesterle to the NHL. Oesterle has played in 12 games with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers so far this season, netting eight assists, two penalty minutes, and a -2. He’s also appeared in four games with the Flames this season, going without a point and recording a -2.

Oesterle is in his first season with the Flames, signing a one-year, $925K contract with the club in July. The Flames become the fifth franchise that Oesterle has been a part of, previously spending time with the Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, and Detroit Red Wings. He’s totaled 353 career NHL games and scored 84 career points. He’s served as a role player for much of his career, with the 71 games he played in the 2018-19 season representing the most he’s played in one year. That season also marked Oesterle’s highest single-season scoring, with six goals and 20 points.

Oesterle signed with the Edmonton Oilers as an undrafted free agent in 2014, following the conclusion of his junior year at Western Michigan University. He received his NHL debut in the 2014-15 season, playing in six of the 25 games that he would total with the Oilers organization. After leaving Edmonton, Oesterle joined the Blackhawks, who traded him to the Arizona Coyotes alongside Marian Hossa and Vinnie Hinostroza.

Oesterle joins Nick DeSimone as an extra defenseman on the Flames roster. DeSimone has played in eight games with the Flames this season, recording four assists. He has also recorded four assists in six AHL games this year.

Flames Recall Nick DeSimone

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The Calgary Flames have recalled defenseman Nick DeSimone from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, per a team release issued Friday. To make room on the active roster, the team assigned Jordan Oesterle, who cleared waivers just minutes ago, to the Wranglers.

DeSimone, 28, is expected to make his 2023-24 Flames debut tomorrow against the Kraken as Nikita Zadorov remains away from the team on personal leave. The right-shot minor-league mainstay has four NHL games to his name, all coming in a Calgary sweater last season. He is, however, still looking for his first NHL point.

The Union College product is a veteran of 337 AHL games across eight seasons, mainly in the Sharks organization with the San Jose Barracuda. He joined the Flames in the summer of 2021 via free agency and is now in the second season of a two-year, two-way deal that earns him a minimum guaranteed salary of $350K. He has four assists through six contests with the Wranglers this season, and his +4 rating is tied for the team lead.

DeSimone will likely partner with Dennis Gilbert on the Flames’ third pairing, reuniting teammates who have both played heavy minutes for the Wranglers in recent seasons.

Flames Place Jordan Oesterle On Waivers

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Nov. 3: Oesterle has cleared waivers and can be assigned to AHL Calgary, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic reports.

Nov. 2: Chris Johnston of TSN is reporting that the Calgary Flames have placed defenseman Jordan Oesterle on waivers. Oesterle recently joined the Flames organization this summer after finishing up a two-year contract signed with the Detroit Red Wings back in 2021.

Primarily being used as the team’s seventh defenseman, Oesterle would play in a few more games with Calgary due to the four-game suspension given to defenseman Rasmus Andersson over the last week. In four games this season, Oesterle has averaged a touch over 14 minutes of ice time a night, garnering a -2 rating with zero points.

It is unlikely that Oesterle will be claimed within the next 24 hours, but with an affordable cap hit, there are teams such as the Minnesota Wild, Philadelphia Flyers, and San Jose Sharks that could certainly use some short-term help on defense. At any rate, if he is claimed by tomorrow, it shouldn’t be an expectation that Oesterle’s current role with Calgary would change too much in a different organization.

Even with Oesterle’s cap hit being relatively affordable, and with the Flames now running with six defensemen on the active roster, with only $295K in salary cap space after LTIR usage, clearing $925K off of the books is imperative for Calgary for the time being. In the future, if the Flames wish to keep an extra defenseman on the team, there are players such as Colton Poolman and Nick DeSimone currently playing for their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers, who would provide short-term depth with even lower cap hits than Oesterle.

Calgary Flames Sign Jordan Oesterle

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The Calgary Flames have signed defenseman Jordan Oesterle to a one-year, $925k AAV deal.

With trade winds blowing heavily around the Flames’ top left-handed defenseman, Noah Hanifin, adding a capable left-hander to the organization is an important step to take to protect the team’s depth in the event Hanifin is dealt.

Oesterle is exactly that, a capable veteran defenseman who has over 300 games of NHL experience. He’s spent the last two years with the Detroit Red Wings, where he’s scored a combined 19 points in 97 games, averaging nearly 17 minutes of ice time per night along the way.

While he won’t be effective if asked to play a minutes-eating role for the Flames, he should be able to capably handle a bottom-pairing role and provide some valuable veteran competition for the Flames’ crop of up-and-coming blueliners.

While it might be a preferred scenario for a young defenseman like Jeremie Poirier to beat out Oesterle for a job, this signing gives the Flames a solid option in case one of their young defensemen disappoints and can’t earn an opening-day job.

Snapshots: Stanley, Red Wings, Panthers

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Entangled in all of the trade deadline chaos, Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest reports that Winnipeg Jets’ defenseman Logan Stanley has requested a trade from the team. Strickland also notes that Winnipeg is not guaranteed to move on from the young defenseman.

Drafted in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft, Stanley hasn’t entirely found his footing in Winnipeg. Last year, Stanley played relatively well throughout the season, racking up a modest 13 points in 58 games played. Also, as he is a defenseman that plays to his size, the 6’7″ defenseman managed to accrue 131 hits and 100 blocks over the course of last year. With a couple of trips to the injured reserve this season, Stanley desires a fresh start outside of Winnipeg. Because of his youth and contract status with the team, it is possible that Winnipeg could retain Stanley and try to repair a relationship that has soured for at least one side. If the relationship can’t be repaired, the playoff-hopeful Jets could send him to another team in an individual trade, or look to include Stanley in a larger deal.

Other notes:

  • The Detroit Red Wings announced today that Jordan Oesterle has been activated off of injured reserve, while forward Michael Rasmussen has been placed on the IR. Rasmussen appeared to have a lower-body injury after taking a shot off the knee in Detroit’s Saturday night game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now in his 4th season in the NHL, Rasmussen never seemed to live up to his ninth overall draft selection. Topping out at 27 points in 80 games last year, Rasmussen has played far better this year under new head coach Derek Lalonde. Playing in only 56 games so far this season, Rasmussen has produced a new career high of 29 points. After the trade of Tyler Bertuzzi earlier this morning, the Red Wings will now be without another valuable forward in the lineup.
  • Florida Panthers announce that forward Grigori Denisenko has been loaned back to the Panthers’ AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers. A frequent call-up of the Panthers this season, Denisenko has appeared in 18 games, scoring a total of three points. Denisenko will now join the third-place Checkers as he helps the team push for the playoffs in the AHL

Injury Notes: Konecny, Raymond, Hall

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It’s been a week since Travis Konecny went down to an upper-body injury, and the Philadelphia Flyers still haven’t released an official timeline for his return. Today, head coach John Tortorella gave reports at least a bit of an update, explaining to Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic that Konecny would be out for an extended period.

As much as Tortorella and the rest of the Flyers don’t want to admit it, removing Konecny from the lineup may actually be a good thing. The 25-year-old is the team’s best offensive (and perhaps all-around) player, with 27 goals and 54 points in 52 games this season. His absence has been evident over the last few games, including a 5-2 loss to the bottom-dwelling Montreal Canadiens and a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of the rival New Jersey Devils. As the Flyers drop toward the bottom of the standings, they rise closer to the top of the draft lottery odds.

  • Lucas Raymond has been activated from injured reserve by the Detroit Red Wings, with Jordan Oesterle taking his place to clear the roster space. The young Raymond returns to a surging Red Wings group within three points of an Eastern Conference wildcard position with a home-and-home on tap with the Ottawa Senators, starting this evening. Soon to turn 21, Raymond has 15 goals and 33 points in 50 games this season.
  • Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe reports that Taylor Hall has left the Boston Bruins traveling party and returned for evaluation and treatment of a lower-body injury. He’ll miss at least the next two games, meaning they’ll need someone else to take his spot in the lineup. Hall was already playing fewer minutes of late, receiving fewer than 14 in each of his last three games.

Snapshots: Free Agents, Oesterle, Bolduc

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Nearly a month into free agency, several notable UFAs remain unsigned.  One agent suggested to Adam Proteau of The Hockey News that it might be a strategy on their part.  At this point, not many teams have cap space to offer contracts that are well above the minimum salary.  However, if they wait until training camp or even early in the season when injuries arise, those teams might be able to use LTIR and potentially offer a higher salary than they’d be able to now.  That approach certainly carries some risk but in an open market that has been tighter than expected for some veterans this summer, it could work out in the end for one or two of them if that is the route they’re taking.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • With Detroit adding Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, Robert Hagg, and the injured Mark Pysyk this offseason, Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News pegs blueliner Jordan Oesterle as someone whose roster spot for next season could be in question. The 30-year-old played a limited role last season as he had eight points in 45 games while averaging a little over 18 minutes a night.  With a $1.35MM AAV, that’s on the more expensive end for depth defenders although if the Red Wings were to waive him and send him down if he cleared, they’d be able to clear all but $225K off their cap for next season.
  • With the Blues having some openings at the bottom of their roster, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that there’s a chance that Zachary Bolduc could break camp with St. Louis to start next season. The 2021 first-round pick is coming off a dominant year with Quebec of the QMJHL where he scored 55 goals and added 44 assists in 65 games.  That could be enough to at least get him a nine-game look like Jake Neighbours received a year ago.

Maple Leafs, Red Wings Announce More Additions To COVID Protocol

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings, both off for the next several days, have announced more additions to the COVID protocol. Toronto has placed David Kampf, Ilya Mikheyev, Petr Mrazek, Rasmus Sandin, and goaltending coach Steve Briere in the protocol, while Detroit added Adam Erne, Jordan Oesterle, and a member of the support staff.

For the Maple Leafs, that’s a good chunk of their team, given that John Tavares, Alexander Kerfoot, Jason Spezza, Wayne Simmonds, T.J. Brodie, Travis Dermott, Jack Campbell, head coach Sheldon Keefe, and assistant Spencer Carbery were already in the protocol. The team isn’t scheduled to play again until December 27 after the holiday break, but could very well be without several key players if it’s not postponed as well.

Detroit meanwhile has its own growing list, as Sam Gagner, Pius Suter, Joe Veleno, Filip Zadina, Givani Smith, Carter Rowney, Alex Nedeljkovic, Robby Fabbri, Michael Rasmussen, and basically the entire coaching staff were already in the protocol. They too are off until December 27, but given these new placements, could be shorthanded when they take on the New York Rangers, should that game go on as scheduled.

While some of the players listed will be eligible to return soon for both teams, the fact that more players are testing positive is a concern at this point. Hopefully, it stops here, but with the number of players across the league entering the protocol, it seems unlikely.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Jordan Oesterle

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The Detroit Red Wings have agreed to terms with veteran defenseman Jordan Oesterle on a two-year contract. The deal carries an average annual value of $1.35MM according to Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider.

Someone has to play defense for the Red Wings this season, so why shouldn’t it be the 29-year-old Oesterle. An undrafted college signing out of Western Michigan University in 2014, the left-shot defenseman has carved out quite a nice NHL career for himself. Starting with the Edmonton Oilers with stops in Chicago and Arizona, Oesterle has suited up for more than 250 games at the highest level.

He’s not a difference-maker, and has just 65 points in his career, but can at the very least handle bottom-pairing minutes on a team that is just trying to install some structure as it builds up from the bottom. On a two-year deal, his role is likely safe even next season when Nick Leddy, Danny DeKeyser, Mar Staal and Troy Stecher will all be scheduled for unrestricted free agency. The fact that Oesterle can play both sides will come in handy as players move in and out of the rebuilding roster.

Coyotes Sign Jordan Oesterle To A Two-Year Extension

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The Coyotes have locked up one of their pending unrestricted free agents, announcing the signing of defenseman Jordan Oesterle to a two-year contract extension.  While the team did not release financial details, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the deal will carry a cap hit of roughly $1.4MM.  That represents a nice boost from the league minimum $650K he’s earning this season.

Oesterle is in his first season in Arizona after being acquired from Chicago this summer as part of the Marian Hossa trade.  He has impressed this season, playing his way into a regular role for the most part while chipping in offensively as well with 20 points (a career high) in 51 games.  That sits second on the Coyotes in terms of scoring by defensemen, only behind Oliver Ekman-Larsson.  As a result, he now has some stability for his immediate playing future, something he hasn’t had the luxury of having after spending his career on deals at or near the league minimum.

With the move, the Coyotes now have over $30MM tied up in their back end for next season which gives them one of the most expensive defense corps in the league.  For a team that has a limited payroll to work with, potentially spending more on the blueline than their forward group may be a risky strategy for GM John Chayka to work with.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them look to move a defender in the not-too-distant future, be it in advance of Monday’s trade deadline or sometime this coming offseason.

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