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Arizona Coyotes Acquire Niklas Hjalmarsson From Chicago Blackhawks

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The Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks have completed a massive trade just hours before the entry draft. The Blackhawks have sent Niklas Hjalmarsson to the Coyotes in exchange for Connor Murphy and Laurent Dauphin. There is no salary retained in the trade from either side. There had been rumblings about a potential deal that had to do with the #7 pick, but this will have to do for now. Chicago GM Stan Bowman released a statement:

Niklas’ contributions to the three Stanley Cup championship teams are well known but his dependability as a teammate, selfless attitude and the way he represented the Chicago Blackhawks on and off the ice are what made him such a beloved member of the organization. He made his debut in Chicago in 2008 and quietly established himself as one of the toughest competitors in franchise history. We wish he and his family continued success.

Hjalmarsson, 30, has two years remaining on his current contract that pays him $4.1MM per season. The sometimes underappreciated defenseman is left handed, but plays the right side normally and has already been tabbed by John Chayka as the partner for Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Arizona. The two were also partners at the World Cup for team Sweden, and should have solid chemistry together right from the start.

Murphy on the other hand is locked in for five years, and looked like he would be part of the Coyotes long-term plans. His contract pays him $3.85MM per season, but is six years younger and just coming into his own as a defender. He’ll likely never reach the heights of Hjalmarsson, but is a capable replacement for Trevor van Riemsdyk, another right-side defender the Hawks have lost in recent days. The deal allows Chicago to find some cap certainty a few years longer, while also getting younger at least in one position.

Dauphin is a wildcard in the deal, a second-round pick with the upside of a middle-six center. The 22-year old hasn’t found any consistency in the NHL as of yet, but did put up 28 points in 38 AHL contests this year. Whether he ever finds his scoring touch for the Blackhawks, he’ll at least be a cheap depth option for the immediate future, something Chicago always desperately needs. He’s entering the final year of his entry-level contract, and will be incur a cap hit of just $745K with relatively little in the way of possible performance bonuses.

Minor Moves: Fischer, Moose, Friedman

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The Arizona Coyotes have decided it’s time for Christian Fischer to try and make his mark at the NHL level. The team recalled Fischer today and moved Laurent Dauphin down to the AHL. Fischer, the 32nd-overall pick in 2015 has done nothing but score this season for the Tucson Roadrunners. With 43 points in 51 games, the big offensive upside he showed in Windsor last season—when he scored 90 points in 66 games—hasn’t diminished at all.

Scoring two goals in his first three games earlier this year wasn’t a bad start, but he’ll try to prove he deserves a full-time role on the NHL team as soon as next season. As Sarah McClellan of AZCentral notes, this represents the Coyotes’ fourth and final call-up for the rest of the season, meaning they’ll only be able to bring up players on emergency conditions.

  • The Manitoba Moose, affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, have signed two players to professional tryouts for the remainder of the season. Kale Kessy and Rob Flick will join the squad from their respective ECHL teams. Kessy, a former fourth-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes has tried to turn himself into more than an enforcer over the years, and scored 23 points in 32 games for the Tulsa Oilers this season. Flick, a former selection of the Chicago Blackhawks, actually has had success in the AHL before, but found himself in the lower level this season. His scoring dominance there—59 points in 59 games—came paired with a penchant for fighting, and 160 minutes in penalties.
  • Mark Friedman has signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, and will report to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the remainder of the season. The third-round pick had another impressive season in college and continues to draw comparisons to Shayne Gostisbehere in path and pedigree. While they don’t quite play the same style, Flyers fans should be excited by another puck-moving defenseman who will make his mark on the NHL before long. Though Philadelphia has had trouble solidifying their blue line in recent years, the emerging group led by Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov look like they will fare quite a bit better over the next several seasons.

Snapshots: Olympics, Coyotes, Carrick, Ferland

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While there has been talk that some teams would be willing to let their players participate in the 2018 Olympics even if the NHL doesn’t shut down their schedule, the league plans to sit down and put together a league-wide policy regarding participation, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun.

This comes on the heels of Senators owner Eugene Melnyk announcing that he wouldn’t allow Erik Karlsson to go if the NHL doesn’t stop their season late last week.  On the flip side, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has consistently said he wouldn’t stand in the way if his top players wanted to go.  However, it appears the decision ultimately won’t be left to the individual teams.  There remains no timetable for an official announcement on whether or not NHL players will be able to participate.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Coyotes announced the recalls of defenseman Zbynek Michalek and center Laurent Dauphin from Springfield of the AHL. Michalek cleared waivers at the beginning of the season and has been there ever since, playing in 43 games with the Roadrunners.  As for Dauphin, he has been back and forth several times this year; he has two goals and an assist in 24 NHL games while adding 14 goals and eight helpers in 31 AHL contests.  Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic notes (Twitter link) that Michalek’s recall is a regular one while Dauphin’s is on an emergency basis.  That means that Arizona is down to one regular recall between now and the end of the season.
  • The Maple Leafs are hoping to have defenseman Connor Carrick back in their lineup tomorrow against Boston, reports Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun. Carrick has been out for nearly a month with an upper body injury and will meet with team doctors tomorrow to get the final determination on whether or not he is ready to return to the lineup.  The 22 year old is in his first full NHL season, collecting seven points in 55 games while averaging 16:31 per game in ice time in primarily a third pairing role.
  • The recent mumps outbreak across the league may not be over just yet as the Flames announced on their team Twitter page that winger Micheal Ferland is being held out of tonight’s game against Los Angeles and is under observation for the mumps. Earlier this year, several players from the Canucks and Wild missed time with the disease.  Ferland sits fifth in goals on Calgary with 14 in 67 games this season.

Minor Transactions: 1/12/17

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Here is where we’ll keep tabs on today’s comings and goings with the minor leagues:

  • The Islanders announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled defenseman Scott Mayfield from AHL Bridgeport. He will take the place of Travis Hamonic on the active roster, who has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to January 7th.  Mayfield has played in three games with the Isles this season, picking up a goal and two assists.  He has spent the bulk of the season in the minors where he has three tallies and three helpers in 23 contests.
  • Nashville announced the recall of defenseman Alexandre Carrier from Milwaukee of the AHL. Carrier, a fourth round pick of the Predators back in 2015, has had a strong rookie season in the minor leagues, recording 22 points (4-18-22) in 35 games, earning himself a spot in the AHL All-Star Game.
  • With their bye week set to come to an end, the Coyotes announced that they have recalled center Laurent Dauphin and winger Brendan Perlini from their AHL affiliate in Tucson. Dauphin has spent the bulk of the season with Arizona, recording three points in 21 games while producing at a point-per-game clip in 11 minor league contests.  As for Perlini, he has suited up in 15 NHL games, scoring four goals and an assist while adding 19 points (14-5-19) in 17 games with the Roadrunners.
  • After just three games with AHL Hartford, the Rangers have recalled (Twitter link) winger Pavel Buchnevich.  The Russian rookie made an early impact this season, recording four goals and four assists in ten games before back spasms took him out of the lineup for nearly two months.  New York had sent Buchnevich down to get back into game shape and evidently they’re pleased with how performed; he had a goal and an assist in his three minor league contests.
  • Pittsburgh has assigned defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link).  He did not get into any action with the Penguins after being recalled on January 6th.  Ruhwedel has suited up in five NHL games this season, recording a goal and and an assist.
  • The Ducks announced that they have assigned center Chris Wagner to AHL San Diego.  The 25 year old has three goals in 25 games with Anaheim this season and cleared waivers back in mid-November.  Recently, the team had experimented with playing him on the wing; that type of versatility may come in handy as he pushes to be the next player recalled from the Gulls.

Minor Transactions: 1/8/2016 (Updated)

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With some teams preparing for their mandatory mid-season break, GM’s are trimming their rosters, reassigning waivers-exempt players to the minors to ensure they can continue to play during the off time. Additionally, teams bank additional cap space during the hiatus by moving players off of the big league roster. We’ll monitor all of today’s roster transactions in this post and update throughout the day.

  • (Update) 5:30pm: With T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson both dealing with injuries and unable to practice today, the Washington Capitals have recalled forward Paul Carey from Hershey of the AHL, reports Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Both Oshie (upper-body injury) and Wilson (lower-body injury were hurt in the team’s 1 – 0 win over Ottawa last night. Carey has already seen action in three games with Washington but has not registered a point. He currently ranks third in scoring for Hersey with 25 points.
  • The Nashville Predators have placed defenseman Petter Granberg on waivers, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. The 24-year-old Swedish blue liner has appeared in nine games this season for the Predators but has not recorded a point and has averaged just under nine minutes a game. Granberg was originally acquired by Nashville from Toronto via waivers in November of 2015. After failing to make the team in training camp he was waived on the last day of September and after clearing the team assigned him to Milwaukee. Nashville recalled Granberg from the AHL on November 26th. It’ likely he will again clear waivers and remain in the Predators organization.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to do the backup goalie shuffle, again sending Antoine Bibeau to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies and recalling Jhonas Enroth, reports James Mirtle of The Athletic. Bibeau has appeared in just two games, winning one and losing one, while putting up excellent overall numbers – 1.98 GAA and 0.927 Save %. Enroth has posted a record of 0-3-1 in four starts, with a GAA of nearly four. It’s likely the move was made so that Bibeau can stay sharp playing in the minors and he will again be recalled from the Marlies when the Leafs return to action Friday.
  • The Arizona Coyotes assigned Laurent Dauphin, Brendan Perlini and Anthony DeAngelo to Tucson of the AHL, the team announced via their Twitter account. Dauphin has tallied three points in 21 games for Arizona and is averaging 11 minutes per game filling in on the team’s bottom line. Perlini, the team’s first-round pick in 2014, made his NHL debut this season and has appeared in 15 games, scoring four goals and five points. DeAngelo, acquired via trade from Tampa Bay this past summer, has tallied three goals and nine points in 20 games in his first taste of NHL action. Again, it’s likely the assignments were made to ensure the trio continue to play during the break.

Minor Transactions: 12/13/16

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Here are today’s minor roster moves:

  • With Peter Holland and Josh Jooris being added to the roster in recent days, the Coyotes had to make a roster move to get back to 23 players.  They announced that they have assigned center Laurent Dauphin to Tucson of the AHL.  Dauphin has three points (2-1-3) in 20 games with Arizona this season and has a goal in his lone minor league appearance as well.
  • The Canadiens announced that they have assigned right winger Sven Andrighetto and defenseman Mark Barberio to their AHL affiliate in St. John’s. Both players were recalled last week; Andrighetto had a pair of assists in three games after getting called while Barberio was a healthy scratch.  Montreal is now carrying only 18 skaters on their active roster but are off until Friday so they will save a bit of salary cap space with these moves before bringing them or other players back up later in the week.
  • The Wild have recalled right winger Teemu Pulkkinen from AHL Iowa, per a team release. Minnesota claimed him off waivers from Detroit in October but struggled with just one goals in eight games and eventually cleared waivers to be sent to the minors.  He has fared better at the minor league level with 15 points in 15 games and was the AHL’s Player of the Week two weeks ago.
  • Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield has been sent back to Bridgeport of the AHL, the team announced (Twitter link). The 24 year old has made the most of limited ice time with New York, picking up a goal and two assists in just three games while averaging under 12 minutes per game.  He has that same statline in 14 games with the AHL’s Sound Tigers.

Pacific Notes: Fowler, Garbutt, Demko, Coyotes

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After being heavily mentioned in trade rumors over the offseason, Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler is off to a strong start this year with 17 points (7-10-17) through 28 games.  As Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register notes, head coach Randy Carlyle has certainly taken notice, stating that Fowler is as important to Anaheim as Brent Burns (San Jose) and Erik Karlsson (Ottawa) are to their respective clubs, certainly high praise given the stature of those other blueliners.

Not only is Fowler leading the way offensively from the back end, he’s averaging a career high 23:58 per game of ice time, including regular minutes on the top power play and penalty kill.

While it has been speculated that Fowler and his $4MM cap hit would have to be moved for salary cap reasons, the long-term concussion for fellow blueliner Simon Despres has given the Ducks enough wiggle room for the time being.  Even when he returns (which isn’t likely to happen for quite a while yet), he’s too valuable to Anaheim for them to realistically consider dealing him any time soon.

Still with Anaheim, after clearing waivers on Friday, forward Ryan Garbutt has been assigned to their AHL affiliate in San Diego, the team announced.

Other news from the Pacific Division:

  • With goaltender Ryan Miller leaving Thursday’s game with what is believed to be a lower body injury, the team announced via Twitter that they have recalled top prospect Thatcher Demko from Utica of the AHL. Demko is off to a decent start in his first professional season after spending three years at Boston College.  He has a 7-5-1 record in 14 appearances with a 2.59 GAA and a .909 SV%.
  • The Coyotes announced that they have recalled center Laurent Dauphin and defenseman Anthony DeAngelo from their AHL affiliate in Tucson. Dauphin has played in 18 games with Arizona so far this season, notching a goal and an assist while DeAngelo made a strong impression in his first call-up last month, picking up seven points (2-5-7) in just 11 games.  Dauphin’s recall comes on the heels of Max Domi being placed on injured reserve.

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