Minor Transactions: 01/10/17
The NHL world is in a frenzy about offside review calls once again, after the Edmonton Oilers had a goal overturned last night that could have changed the outcome of the game. Connor McDavid doesn’t like the review system, and he’s not alone. Still, life must go on around the league and we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.
- The Nashville Predators have flipped Juuse Saros and Anders Lindback once again, as the likely will throughout the team’s bye week. The team has done this several times throughout the year to get Saros more playing time and keep him fresh for a potential run should Pekka Rinne go down to injury.
- Ottawa has brought back Filip Chlapik from the AHL according to the minor league’s transaction board. The young forward played six games with the Senators earlier this year, but is still looking for his first NHL goal. He’ll get into the lineup tonight with Bobby Ryan out due to injury.
- The St. Louis Blues have sent Vince Dunn and Ivan Barbashev to the Chicago Wolves during their bye week, while also assigning Tage Thompson to San Antonio. The Blues won’t be back in action until they take on the Maple Leafs on January 16th.
- The Capitals have once again sent Madison Bowey and Jakub Vrana to Hershey of the AHL, via the AHL’s transactions page. This isn’t a sign that the team isn’t pleased with their play but rather a way to save a little bit of money on the cap. With Washington in action tomorrow, they’ll likely be recalled for that game.
Minor Transactions: 12/11/17
Another interesting weekend in the NHL that brought some incredible matchups, not the least of which was the Tampa Bay-Winnipeg game on Saturday night. While Tampa Bay took home the victory in overtime when Brayden Point lifted a backhand past Connor Hellebuyck, the game showed just why both teams have a good chance to go deep in the playoffs this year.
Now, Monday comes with roster moves for several teams in the league. Right here we’ll update with all the minor transactions of the day, so make sure you refresh often.
- The Nashville Predators might as well have a permanent listing on these posts, as they’ve swapped their backup goaltenders once again. Juuse Saros is back up with the team, while Anders Lindback is headed for the AHL. Nashville has been moving the two back and forth all year, trying to use Saros as the NHL backup while also getting him the most development time possible. The 22-year old actually has had a poor season at both levels, a troubling trend for a team with their eyes on the Stanley Cup.
- The Winnipeg Jets have activated Steve Mason from injured reserve, meaning Eric Comrie is heading back to the AHL. Comrie was given one start during this call-up, but allowed five goals to the Florida Panthers and will have to wait for his next opportunity. He’ll likely jump right back into the net for the Manitoba Moose, with Michael Hutchinson both nicked up and a potential trade target.
- It was fun while it lasted for Kyle Capobianco, but the young defender has been sent back to the minor leagues. Capobianco, 20, made his NHL debut for the Arizona Coyotes last week but will have to wait for his next chance. He’ll return to the Tucson Roadrunners, where he has 14 points in 17 games this season.
- As expected, the Anaheim Ducks have sent Jared Boll, Jaycob Megna and Kevin Roy to the minor leagues today. Andy Welinski has been recalled and will make his NHL debut, while Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg are expected back in the lineup. Welinski is already 24, but after four successful years at UMD and then an impressive rookie year in the AHL, Ducks fans should be excited for his debut.
Minor Transactions: 12/08/17
Jordan Subban heard that he’d been traded when he woke up and saw several text messages. If only he’d been keeping an eye on PHR.
We’ll keep track of all the minor moves around the league right here. Make sure to refresh throughout the day.
- The Nashville Predators have flipped backup goaltenders once again, recalling Anders Lindback and assigning Juuse Saros. Nashville has been swapping the two goaltenders all year long, though Lindback has yet to appear in an NHL game. The team has also placed Ryan Johansen on injured reserve, retroactive to December 2nd.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent Jamie McBain back to the minor leagues, likely signalling a return to health for Braydon Coburn or Jake Dotchin (or both). McBain never did get into a game, and will go back to his lead role on the Syracuse Crunch.
- Mike McKenna is on his way back to the AHL after suiting up last night for the Dallas Stars. Ben Bishop wasn’t able to go for the Stars with a back injury, so Kari Lehtonen started and had McKenna on the bench counting shots. With the Stars heading home to take on the Golden Knights tomorrow, it will be interesting to see if Bishop is back in net.
- With Radko Gudas set to return after his 10-game suspension, the Philadelphia Flyers have returned T.J. Brennan to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Brennan, known solely for his offensive production from the defense position, never did get into a game with the Flyers.
- The Vacouver Canucks have sent Thatcher Demko back to the minor leagues, now that Derek Dorsett has been moved to long-term injured reserve. Demko’s recall was just a paper transaction to get the Canucks as close to the cap ceiling as possible.
- The St. Louis Blues have moved Carter Hutton to injured reserve, and brought Samuel Blais back up. Blais was sent down quickly when Ville Husso was recalled on an emergency basis, but was never expected to be down for very long. Hutton suffered the injury in practice, and caused the Blues to use a local goaltender for warm-up last night.
- Corey Crawford is back in the Chicago net, activated off injured reserve today and expected to start tonight. That means Jean-Francois Berube‘s time with the team is over for now, as he’s been reassigned to the AHL. Berube cleared waivers at the beginning of October, and has spent most of the season in Rockford.
- The San Jose Sharks have sent Danny O’Regan back to the AHL after eight games with the club, in which he actually recorded four points. O’Regan, a 23-year old center will be back up at some point as he continues to score at every level.
- Curtis McKenzie has been sent to the minor leagues by the Dallas Stars, clearing room for Martin Hanzal and Marc Methot on the roster, who both skated before practice today. Though it’s not clear when either will be ready to come back, the Stars now have two roster spots available.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have sent Greg McKegg to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins after clearing waivers, recalling Dominik Simon to help out up front. Simon has 16 points in 20 games for the AHL club this season, but would be making his NHL season debut if he gets into a game.
Minor Transactions: 11/20/17
With just six games on a Monday and a couple of suspensions last night, many teams may look to make minor changes to their roster for the coming week. Keep up with those moves right here:
- The Vancouver Canucks announced they have recalled defenseman Philip Holm from the Utica Comets and reassigned Patrick Wiercioch in a corresponding move. Holm will be recalled for first time as the undrafted free agent signed a one-year deal with Vancouver this summer. At 25 years of age and coming over from Sweden, he needed time to adjust to the North American hockey, but appears to be ready. He has played 15 games for Utica, leading all Comet defensemen in scoring as he has put up two goals and eight assists on the year. Wiercioch, who had been shuttled up and down for most of the season has been up with the team since Oct. 23, but has been serving as an emergency defenseman and hasn’t seen any action yet this year. He has only played two games for the Comets this season.
- The Nashville Predators announced they have recalled forward Pontus Aberg and goaltender Juuse Saros as well as Frederick Gaudreau from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. The team also reassigned Anders Lindback to Milwaukee. Aberg had been serving in Milwaukee on a conditioning stint since Nov. 11. The 24-year-old had cracked the team’s lineup last year after putting up a 30-goal season in Milwaukee. He then proceeded to play in 16 playoff games for Nashville, but had trouble finding playing time this year as he had only played in nine games to start the year and was often a healthy scratch. In four games for the Admirals, he had four goals and two assists. Saros, the team’s backup behind starter Pekka Rinne, has struggled in his time with the Predators. In four games, he has posted a 3.94 GAA and a .855 save percentage. He was sent down to start for Milwaukee to get in some playing time. Although he took the loss in Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Monsters, he only allowed two goals in the game, stopping 20 shots. Lindback returns to Milwaukee after serving as an emergency backup for the team on Saturday.
- Arizona Sports reported that the Arizona Coyotes have assigned defenseman Dakota Mermis to the AHL Tucson Roadrunners. The 23-year-old blueliner has played seven games for Arizona with the team’s rash of defensive injuries from Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jakob Chychrun. Hjalmarsson is expected to return to the lineup tonight.
- The Dallas Stars have recalled goaltender Mike McKenna from the AHL Texas Stars Monday as backup Kari Lehtonen is unavailable due to personal reasons, according to the team. The 34-year-old McKenna has been a journeyman in the AHL and last got into an NHL game with the Arizona Coyotes back in the 2014-15 season and has played in 22 NHL games in his career. In 12 games with Texas, he has a 3.51 GAA. The Stars also announced they have recalled defenseman Julius Honka from Texas. The 2014 first-round pick has been unable to carve out a full-time role with Dallas as he struggled to earn playing time at the start of the year. He was sent down on Oct. 31 after playing six games, putting up no points. He played eight games with the Texas Stars, but also failed to produce a point.
Central Notes: Girard, Berglund, Saros
Although we’re well into November, there is still one more decision to be made when it comes to a junior-aged player officially burning the first year of his entry-level contract. That happens to be in Colorado, where recently-acquired defenseman Samuel Girard is scheduled to play in his ninth and tenth games for the Avalanche over the weekend.
Mike Chambers of the Denver Post suggests that the team is highly likely to keep the 19-year-old up with the big club. Although he has only played three games in an Avalanche uniform (the other five coming with Nashville), Girard has already made quite the impact, logging more than 22 minutes per game while playing alongside Erik Johnson on the top pairing. Although it’s not likely that he’ll be able to sustain that workload for the rest of the season, it’s certainly hard to imagine Colorado choosing to send him back to junior within the next day or two considering how big of a role he already has. As is the case with other teenaged players, the next threshold will be 40 games on the active roster which accrues a season towards unrestricted free agency eligibility.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- Blues center Patrik Berglund will be re-evaluated by the team next week as he continues his rehab from offseason shoulder surgery, notes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 29-year-old has been with St. Louis throughout their current road trip and is hopeful that he could get the green light to return before his original target of early December.
- Yesterday, the Predators demoted backup goalie Jusse Saros in what was a bit of a surprising move. Head coach Peter Laviolette told Adam Vingan of The Tennessean that the decision was made primarily to give Saros some playing time; he has only made four starts so far this season. Nashville isn’t set to play back-to-back until December 4th and 5th so there’s a good chance Saros and Anders Lindback will be flipped once again at that time.
Nashville Predators Swap Saros, Lindback
In a surprising move, the Nashville Predators have sent goaltender Juuse Saros to the AHL and recalled Anders Lindback to take his place. After an incredible season last year, Saros looked ready to take on a bigger role with the Predators this season. Instead he’s struggled through four games, recording an .855 save percentage. Lindback meanwhile is leading the AHL in wins and carries a .918 save percentage through his first 11 games.
The move is likely to get the 22-year old Saros some more playing time and avoid stifling his development, but it does come with an interesting wrinkle. Lindback is not waiver-exempt, meaning the team only has a certain amount of time to swap them back before they would have to expose the older goaltender to the rest of the league. Since he cleared waivers before the season, he has 30 days (or 10 games) on the active roster before he needs to clear again. Though Lindback is by no means a star goaltender, he has shown over the years to be a capable backup.
Lindback was first drafted by the Predators in 2008, and made quite the impression in his first few seasons. As a rookie in 2010-11 he backed up Pekka Rinne quite admirably, recording a .918 save percentage through his 22 appearances. Nashville would eventually trade him to the Tampa Bay Lightning for some draft picks, where he was expected to grow into a starting goaltender. It would never happen, and Lindback’s career took him to several other stops including back to Sweden last year.
Still, if he shows that he can still provide solid backup goaltending on a minimum salary contract (Lindback earns just $650K in the NHL) he could be a target on waivers. For now, he’ll be asked to back up Rinne once again, many years later.
Central Notes: Crawford, Steen, Bouwmeester, Rinne
The Chicago Blackhawks have started the new season on a high note after bowing out early in the playoffs a year ago. The team has shown off its offense with 15 goals in two games, showing they have no intention of slowly fading away into obscurity. However, despite the success of the team’s offense, there is little attention focused on another key player, that of goaltender Corey Crawford, according to NBC Sports Chicago’s Tracey Myers.
The veteran netminder has allowed just one goal in each of his first two starts, but has made many tough saves to keep the team’s lopsided scores as impressive as they were. Crawford’s .968 save percentage has been critical and has gotten the team off to another impressive start to start the season as he has stopped a few breakaway and second chances against him. While no one thinks those numbers are sustainable after just two games, Crawford spent much of the offseason working with former goaltender Jimmy Waite on the little parts of his game.
“I mean, he made several key saves,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “I like him around the net. He’s cutting off plays that they’re trying to make that could generate even more chances. His anticipation in that area has been outstanding, he’s been moving the puck well, he’s square and seems like he’s very involved. A lot of good things have happened in a couple of games, but Crow’s been rock solid.”
- Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that St. Louis Blues forward Alex Steen is closing in on returning to practice with the team during their four-game road trip that starts on Monday. Steen, who broke his hand on Sept. 19 when he was slashed by the Stars’ Antoine Roussel, has been skating on his own prior to some practices, but is closer to rejoining the team than defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who is recovering from a fractured ankle he suffered in a preseason game on Sept. 17. However, Thomas writes that even Bouwmeester is inching towards a return, but Steen has the advantage.
- Adam Vingan of the Tennessean writes that the Nashville Predators went with Juuse Saros Saturday due to Pekka Rinne‘s lack of success when it comes to playing in PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Rinne, who lost all three of his starts there in the Stanley Cup finals (to go with a .755 save percentage there) and has never won there in six career starts. Saros, making his first start, allowed the first goal after 66 seconds of play, but played better once he settled down. He still allowed four goals, while Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray picked up his third shutout in a row against Nashville, including two shutouts in the Stanley Cup finals.
Predators Sign Goaltenders Anders Lindback And Matt O’Connor
In two separate team announcements, the Western Conference champion Nashville Predators revealed that they have added some depth in net behind Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros in the wake of parting ways with Marek Mazanec. A familiar name is returning in Anders Lindback, a 2008 draft selection and Rinne’s backup from 2010 to 2012, who has since been an NHL journeyman and spent this past season in the Swedish Hockey League. Lindback signed a two-way deal worth the minimum $650K at the NHL level. Matt O’Connor, the former Boston University star who has spent the past few years in the Ottawa Senators organization, signed a similar deal. The 24-year-old will also play on a two-way contract worth $650K in the NHL and only slightly less than Lindback in the AHL.
Injury Update: Bonino, Colin Wilson Out
Nick Bonino could be facing a longer-term injury, as he has been spotted donning a suit, opting out of normal pre-game activities according to Dan Rosen of NHL.com. He has been utilizing a walking boot on his left foot and needs crutches to remain mobile. His position as 3rd line center will most likely be filled by the winger/center hybrid Carter Rowney, while the greybeard Matt Cullen will shift to center the 4th. Carl Hagelin found his way into the lineup as the replacement 12th forward at the last minute, in favor of the speedy Josh Archibald. Hagelin has a lot to prove to management following a down year. GM Jim Rutherford may be looking to shed a bit of salary this summer, as RFAs Brian Dumoulin and Conor Sheary will be looking for hefty raises.
Bonino has displayed his talents this post-season most obviously on the penalty kill. Although his even-strength production has picked up, especially in a game against where he centered Bryan Rust and the aforementioned Rowney, his shot-blocking prowess has been universally lauded. The forward has 4 goals and 3 assists through 21 playoff games after an up-and-down regular season performance where he posted 37 points. His 99 blocks during the season led all forwards, and his 15 this post-season have been instrumental in series where the Penguins have been drastically outshot.
As mentioned yesterday, this issue could affect Bonino’s future with the organization, as he was already facing an uncertain summer. The team will need to rely on the rest of the forward corps to up their defensive play if they hope to replace his presence tonight.
- Colin Wilson doesn’t look as though he will be fit to play this evening, according to Tomas Willis. Vernon Fiddler also remains sidelined, while Cody McLeod is expected to be a scratch. P.A. Parenteau and Harry Zolniercyzk look to take their forward spots in the lineup. Parenteau had a decent season before being traded from New Jersey, but only potted one assist in 8 games in Nashville. Zolniercyzk, himself an ex-Penguin, is a feisty physical presence who will be inserted to provide energy. Although Wilson has regressed offensively the last two seasons, he was a pivotal player for the Predators early in this playoff run, potting 4 points in 12 games on an offense that has performed largely by committee. His solid defensive play will also be need to be recouped, as his 53.1 Corsi For % was one of the team’s best during the season.
- Pekka Rinne finds the net this evening, despite his poor play in Games 1 and 2. Juuse Saros will not see his first start as head coach Peter Laviolette has chosen to place his confidence in the veteran tender. Rinne has posted a .778 save percentage in the Finals thus far, but will hope to turn it around in front of the home crowd.
Finals Notes: Rinne, Hagelin, Fisher
Pekka Rinne has been quite poor through two contests in Pittsburgh with a horrid save percentage of .778. Headed home, the expectation is that he will get the nod to start Game 3 with a raucous home crowd behind him. But the 21 year-old backup Juuse Saros shouldn’t get his baseball hat fitted quite so securely. Predators coach Peter Laviolette has been known to take massive gambles with his goaltenders come playoffs, and he’s found success while doing it. Back in 2007, Martin Gerber was rightfully scratched in favor of Cam Ward, who had a phenomenal playoff resulting in a Stanley Cup Victory. In 2010, Laviolette benched veteran Brian Boucher to tap AHL journeyman Michael Leighton, who miraculously led the 8th-seeded Flyers to a Game 6 overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks in a Stanley Cup Final. Saros is young, to be sure, and he only has 22 NHL contests under his belt, not counting his minimal relief effort in Pittsburgh. Rinne is a former Vezina winner and by all standards has “earned” the right to start Game 3 in his home barn. That said, Ward only had 28 contests under his belt when Laviolette made him the starter. If Rinne were to somehow find the bench tomorrow, it could complicate his future in Smashville. Rinne only has two years remaining at $7 MM per season, but he has been absolutely central to GM David Poile’s strategy thus far.
- Carl Hagelin isn’t happy to sit on the sidelines in Pittsburgh, as he was stated in an interview with the Tribune-Review. He’s frustrated with himself and his own performance, after only scoring one goal the entire playoffs and sitting out numerous contests. By all accounts, he has been a team player about the entire situation. He has never fully recovered from a lower-body injury, and the drop off in skating has been noticeable. Hagelin is having quite a different post-season than last, but his struggles didn’t begin in April. He potted only 6 goals and 22 points this season, with a shooting percentage of 4.7%. He looked out of sync with both Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel, and struggled to find his place following his demotion. The speed of Hagelin is still a deadly asset, but his play hasn’t warranted his $4 MM pricetag. When it comes time to protect players, Hagelin could theoretically find himself as a sacrificial lamb for Vegas to claim, with the dual purpose of saving cap dollars.
- Nashville captain Mike Fisher could be considering retirement following this post-season, according to NBC Sports. He is entering the final year of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent at the age of 37. He had a solid season in Tennessee, posting 18 goals and 24 assists, an improvement over his prior two outings. He had a rough statistical start to the playoffs, going pointless through three rounds of play although he provided amazing defensive play and special teams expertise. Fisher would most likely take a moderate paycut from his current $4.4 MM to remain in Nashville for at least one more season, but his decision could be impacted by the hectic life of his wife Carrie Underwood. If he opted to retire, it would leave Nashville in a difficult situation of replacing both their leader as well as a #2 center. It seems likely that a deal can be worked out by management, especially in light of Nashville’s lengthy, successful campaign.