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Nic Hague

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 1/24/21

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It appears as though there will be daily movement this season between the active roster and taxi squad. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of shuffle news each day.

  • The Dallas Stars announced they have recalled forward Tanner Kero from their taxi squad after placing forward Joel Kiviranta on injured reserve. The 28-year-old Kero hasn’t made an NHL appearance since the 2017-18 season, but could get onto the ice depending on the injury status of Jamie Benn, who is a game-time decision. Kiviranta, who was listed as day-to-day Saturday after getting injured in practice, will have to sit out at least three games.
  • The Detroit Red Wings announced they have recalled forwards Givani Smith and Taro Hirose from the taxi squad. Smith has been up and down between the NHL and taxi squad, while Hirose was recalled three days ago to the taxi squad from the AHL. Both are expected to make their season debuts on Sunday. Detroit also have re-assigned forward Riley Barber to the taxi squad. UPDATE: The Red Wings have reversed course, announcing they have sent Hirose and Smith back to the taxi squad after their game with Chicago ended.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers announced they have loaned defenseman Derrick Pouliot from the taxi squad to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL. The team also announced some salary cap moves, sending forward Connor Bunnaman and Samuel Morin to their taxi squad.
  • The Buffalo Sabres announced they have swapped young players as the team has sent forward Dylan Cozens to the taxi squad and recalled Casey Mittelstadt, who is expected to make his season debut Sunday. Cozens scored his first career NHL goal Friday, but head coach Ralph Krueger made it clear before the season that he intends to ease his young players into the lineup. The team has also activated forward Kyle Okposo from injured reserve. He has missed the team’s first five games with a lower-body injury.
  • Las Vegas Review Journal’s David Schoen reports that the Vegas Golden Knights have activated defenseman Nicolas Hague off the taxi squad and moved center Cody Glass to the taxi squad, a similar move from two games ago as the team continues to balance their salary cap with rotating between five and six defensemen.
  • The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reports that with two forwards (Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov), a defenseman (Dmitry Orlov) and a goaltender (Ilya Samsonov) out due to COVID-19 restrictions, the team was able to recall two players, including forwards Brian Pinho and Connor McMichael (as well as goaltender Craig Anderson), via the emergency recall exception rule and not count against their cap. McMichael is the most interesting of the two as the 2019 first-round pick will make his NHL debut Sunday.
  • The New Jersey Devils announced they have assigned forward Jesper Boqvist to the taxi squad and they have recalled forward Nicholas Merkley, who is expected to make his season debut Sunday. Boqvist has appeared in four games for New Jersey, failing to register a point. Merkley, acquired from Arizona in the Taylor Hall trade last season, had a goal and an assist in four games last year with the Devils.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets already placed Brandon Dubinsky on LTIR earlier today, but the team also made a few other moves to get under the salary cap, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline. The scribe writes that both Alexandre Texier and Liam Foudy have been assigned to the taxi squad, but as paper moves to maximize their LTIR pool. The team has also recalled Emil Bemstrom and Stefan Matteau from the taxi squad.
  • The New York Rangers announced they have recalled forward Colin Blackwell from their taxi squad and is likely to make his Rangers’ debut. The 27-year-old signed with the Rangers as a free agent after posting three goals and 10 points in 27 games for the Nashville Predators last season.
  • The Calgary Flames made their standard game-day transaction, recalling Derek Ryan and Oliver Kylington from the taxi squad. Ryan has appeared in three games with no points, while Kylington has yet to make an appearance for Calgary this year.
  • The Minnesota Wild announced they have recalled goaltender Andrew Hammond from their taxi squad with the status of Cam Talbot being day-to-day. In order to keep three goaltenders on the roster, the team has assigned netminder Hunter Jones from Iowa of the AHL to the taxi squad. Hammond has not made an appearance yet for the Wild.
  • With the Bruins off, CapFriendly reports that Boston has shuffled forwards Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic plus defenseman Urho Vaakanainen to their taxi squad, continuing their near-daily movement.  Steven Kampfer was reassigned to AHL Providence from the taxi squad to create room for Vaakanainen’s placement.
  • Avalanche defenseman Conor Timmins was in the lineup for their game today against Anaheim, meaning that he has been recalled from the taxi squad.  The 22-year-old has played in four games so far with Colorado this season, logging a little under 13 minutes per game.
  • Pierre Engvall and Jason Spezza were both in the lineup for the Maple Leafs against Calgary today, meaning they were promoted from the taxi squad.  To get back into cap compliance, Travis Boyd was sent to the taxi squad.
  • After scoring in his Canadiens debut on Saturday, Montreal has returned Corey Perry to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  The veteran will likely be recalled in time for their next game against Calgary on Thursday.
  • The Ottawa Senators have returned winger Micheal Haley to their taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  He was recalled for Saturday’s game against Winnipeg and played 7:39 while getting into a fight.

Vegas Still Struggling With Salary Cap Balance

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Ahead of their game on Monday night, the Vegas Golden Knights swapped out a pair of young players from their active roster. After starting only five defensemen to begin the season, the team has recalled Nic Hague to serve as their sixth defenseman. In a corresponding move, Cody Glass has been assigned to the taxi squad. For the time being, it’s a move that the Golden Knights have to make.

Although Vegas would like to have both young standouts in the lineup, they do not have the cap space to fit both. Even with both on entry-level contracts, the Knights’ $294K in cap space (even with the more affordable Hague on the roster) is not enough for an additional player. Vegas is stuck with the minimum roster of 20 players. That 20-man group cannot include both Hague and Glass, either. They are the only members of the Knights that are waivers-exempt, meaning opening up space for both would require subjecting another player to the waiver wire. The deep, veteran roster of the Golden Knights does not offer many safe waiver options and those that might clear, such as Keegan Kolesar or Zach Whitecloud, make even less than Glass or Hague would still put the team in a difficult salary cap spot.

Barring an injury and LTIR placement to open up space, the Knights will either need to continue this careful balancing act or make a move. While Glass and Hague are both ready for full-time NHL roles, the Knights could decide that keeping their roster together this season is more important than the development of either prospect in a shortened season. However, if they feel that their best chance at a Stanley Cup is to ice a lineup with both Glass and Hague during the regular season, something has to give.

Pacific Notes: Raanta, Tuch, Roussel, Jurco

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It has been nearly eleven months since Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta last made an appearance in an NHL game and his delay will last a little longer.  The team announced that he has been assigned to AHL Tucson on a conditioning stint and that netminder Adin Hill has been recalled to take his place.  Raanta played in just two periods during the preseason before sustaining a lower-body injury so given how long he has been off, the move is certainly understandable.  As a veteran, Raanta would have had to consent to the loan to the Roadrunners.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • The Golden Knights announced that they have recalled defencemen Nic Hague and center Nicolas Roy from Chicago of the AHL. Vegas didn’t have enough cap space to make these roster moves so they’ve transferred winger Alex Tuch to long-term injury reserve.  He was injured late in the preseason and is listed as out on a week-to-week basis.  He’ll need to sit at least ten games or 24 days before being eligible to be activated.
  • Canucks GM Jim Benning told TSN 1040’s Jeff Paterson (Twitter link) that winger Antoine Roussel has been skating on his own for a while as he works his way back from knee surgery. However, he’s still expected to be out until late November.  Between now and then, he’s a candidate to be placed on LTIR if Vancouver needs to recall anyone due to injury as they have less than $170K in cap room to start the season, per CapFriendly.
  • Oilers winger Tomas Jurco is expected to miss tonight’s game against Vancouver after undergoing an undisclosed medical procedure, notes Postmedia’s Jim Matheson. It’s not expected to keep him out for long, however, as he will not be placed on injured reserve.  Jurco cracked Edmonton’s lineup in training camp after spending all of last season in the AHL on a minor league contract.

Kings Loan Jacob Moverare To SHL’s Frolunda HC

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Los Angeles Kings defensive prospect Jacob Moverare is on the move. After being cut from Kings camp and assigned to Ontario of the AHL on Saturday, the Swedish Hockey League’s Frolunda HC announced today that the 20-year-old blue liner will join their team for the remainder of the season. Moverare has played the past two seasons in North America with the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads, but will now return to his native Sweden for the foreseeable future.

While it is not out of the ordinary to see a loan of this kind for a young foreign player, the circumstances are somewhat unique. Moverare is not a stranger to the SHL, skating in four games at the top level as a teenager in 2015-16; however, he was brought up in the developmental system of HV71. By now joining Frolunda, it seems likely that Moverare and his agent were given permission to negotiate a new contract in SHL, rather than simply re-joining his old squad. In Frolunda’s press release, Moverare acknowledges that he worked out with the team this summer and felt comfortable skating with the squad this year.

Moverare’s loan should not be considered any indication that he won’t be back in North America in the future. The 2016 fourth-round pick has shown considerable ability and is simply a victim of the numbers game for L.A. Moverare, a right-shot, puck-moving defenseman, plays a strong, competitive game and is known for his vision and positioning on the ice. In Mississauga, Moverare was a productive player who often paired with Vegas Golden Knights prospect Nic Hague to form a formidable duo. However, after missing time last season due to injury, the Kings made the decision that the best thing for his development this year would be guaranteed ice time, which may have been hard to come by with Ontario. Los Angeles has 16 other defensemen under contract, and even with seven or eight slated for L.A., it would have left at least nine in Ontario prior to Moverare’s loan. Rather than compete for ice time with NHL-ready prospects like Daniel Brickley, Kale Clague, and Alex Lintuniemi or veterans such as Kurtis MacDermid and Paul LaDue, it makes more sense for Moverare to spend the season with Frolunda, where he will likely have a regular top-six role.

Nic Hague, Michael McLeod Heading To AHL

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After the Mississauga Steelheads were eliminated from the OHL playoffs, two of their best players are headed to the AHL to test their skills. Vegas Golden Knights prospect Nic Hague is on his way to the Chicago Wolves, while New Jersey Devils pick Micheal McLeod is joining Binghamton.

Hague was selected in the second round by the Golden Knights after falling a bit in the draft, but has taken another step forward this season. With 35 goals and 78 points in 67 games, the 19-year old defenseman led the Steelheads in scoring and skated huge minutes for them all season long. His 6’6″ frame is used to effectively move attackers off the puck in the defensive zone, while his long reach and active stick routinely cuts off passes. Jumping into the rush and taking plenty of shots from the point, there are still some warts in Hague’s game as he can get caught of position. With some strong coaching at the next level though, there is huge upside to his game as a future NHL player.

McLeod on the other hand has had a disappointing season for Mississauga, after battling injury to start the year. While 44 points in 38 games still puts him as one of the more effective players on the team, his breakaway speed and dynamic puck control have been absent at times. Those skills are the ones that made him the 12th-overall pick in 2016, and ones that could make him a star in the NHL down the road. McLeod did find his game somewhat in the playoffs, scoring some big goals as the Steelheads tried to fend off elimination. If he can continue to get back to what made him such a high pick, there’s a chance the 20-year old forward could be in New Jersey as soon as the fall.

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