The NHL Is Ripe For A Big Change Of Scenery Trade
The classic change-of-scenery move was once standard in the NHL. Still, with the emergence of the salary cap, analytics, and entire departments dedicated to player projections, the number of big-name change-of-scenery trades has declined.
These deals were often made in hopes of inspiring two struggling players to return to their career averages or better. The most recent example of this kind of deal is the goalie trade between the Penguins and Oilers earlier this year, which involved Tristan Jarry and Stuart Skinner.
Another recent example came at last year’s trade deadline, when the Sabres sent Dylan Cozens and a draft pick to the Senators for Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker. This season, there are multiple change-of-scenery trade candidates, with the biggest names being forward Elias Pettersson of the Canucks and Andrei Svechnikov of the Hurricanes.
Don’t get it wrong. There are still plenty of change-of-scenery trades in the NHL involving fringe and depth players, and some don’t work out, but some do in a big way. Egor Chinakhov of the Penguins is a glaring example of a change-of-scenery move that has worked out thus far, as he is playing with more confidence and fire than he has in years.
In addition to the Chinakhov and Skinner moves, the Penguins have made several low-end versions of these trades this season, most recently this week’s deal with the Avalanche, which sent forward Valtteri Puustinen to the Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Ilya Solovyov. The trade barely made waves around the NHL, but it does provide an example of two players who need fresh starts being swapped by teams in the hope of reigniting their play.
Outside of the aforementioned Pettersson and Svechnikov, who are some other big-name players who could use a change of scenery? The big name has to be defenseman Dougie Hamilton of the Devils, who was a healthy scratch last week and hasn’t produced nearly the way you would hope from a $9MM offensive defenseman.
Hamilton has dealt with a couple of injury-riddled seasons and has just five goals and 12 assists in 46 games this year. While Hamilton’s play hasn’t been great this season, that hasn’t stopped the Devils from upping his usage from 19:51 a game last year to 21:33 this season.
Hamilton is still a good player and would be a likely candidate to bounce back in a new environment. But would any team want to take a gamble like that on a 32-year-old making $9MM annually over the next two and a half years?
There is interest, and why wouldn’t there be? Hamilton is a talented player who could very well thrive on a new team, but the Devils aren’t going to just give him a way or retain half his salary in exchange for peanuts. The best course of action for New Jersey might be to try to find a hockey deal for another player in need of a change.
Pivoting to the Western Conference, the Blues look to be going nowhere fast and have a few players who could use a fresh start, including forward Jordan Kyrou and defenseman Colton Parayko. Kyrou is probably the most intriguing name on this list, a 27-year-old with a healthy track record of success.
His decline this season (11 goals and 13 assists in 42 games) isn’t overly complicated. His shooting percentage has dropped almost a full six points from last year, and with it, so has his goal-scoring production. Kyrou has another five years on his contract after this season at an AAV of $8.13MM, and he could be a bargain depending on how motivated St. Louis is to shake things up.
The Blues are in no rush, though, and might hold firm on their asking price if they don’t get reasonable offers. From Kyrou’s perspective, this year has been one to forget offensively. However, many of his underlying numbers remain strong, and he should still be productive for the majority of his contract. The Blues have been a bad team this year, and without much support, Kyrou hasn’t been as effective as he was in years past, when he was a consistent 70-point threat.
Another Blues player who could use a new look is Parayko, who has been a mess this season after a good year last year. Parayko has never been an analytics darling, but some of his underlying numbers are ugly this season. Now, in fairness to the 32-year-old, he is being asked to shoulder a very heavy defensive load on a bad team that is going nowhere. It can’t be easy for the veteran to go in night after night knowing he’ll spend most of the game working in his own zone, but that is his reality in St. Louis. A fresh start in a less stressful role could be precisely what Parayko needs at this stage of his career, but he won’t come cheap, as St. Louis likely still views him as a premium asset.
Moving back east, the Devils paid a premium three years ago to acquire Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks and hoped he would become a force in their top six as they entered their window of contention. Meier quickly signed a pricey extension with the Devils worth $8.8MM annually (on an eight-year deal), and it looked as though it was an excellent match for both sides.
Since joining New Jersey, Meier hasn’t been the same offensive contributor he was in San Jose, and some of his underlying numbers have taken a hit as well. Offensively, he is still a 50+ point player, but that likely isn’t what the Devils had hoped for when they made the moves to bring him in long-term. Meier just ended a six-game pointless drought the other night and has been dealing with personal matters on the side, taking a leave of absence last month to attend to a family health matter.
It’s hard to say whether he would welcome a move or not, but it probably wouldn’t be the worst thing for the 29-year-old or the team. Once again, the Devils aren’t going to give Meier away, as he remains an effective player, but given how rough the last 18 months have been for the team, it might not be the worst thing to shake up the roster by moving on from Meier, Hamilton, or perhaps both players.
Devils Activate Timo Meier, Assign Two To AHL
The Devils made a trio of roster moves before Friday’s freeze. The team announced that winger Timo Meier has been activated off the non-roster list while winger Xavier Parent and defenseman Calen Addison were assigned to AHL Utica.
Meier had been away from the team for a little more than a week due to a family health matter. The 29-year-old is a key cog in New Jersey’s attack and got off to a strong start this season with 11 goals and 12 assists in 30 games while averaging a little under 19 minutes per game of playing time. Considering that the Devils are without five forwards at the moment (headlined by Jack Hughes and rookie Arseny Gritsyuk), his return will certainly be a significant one.
As for Parent, he received his first career NHL promotion earlier this month. The 24-year-old got into five games with the Devils while on recall but was held off the scoresheet while recording two shots and seven hits in 8:34 of ice time per night. Parent has been fairly productive in the minors with the Comets though, chipping in with six goals and six assists through 20 appearances so far.
Addison, meanwhile, received his first recall of the season last weekend but didn’t see any game action. A veteran of 152 career NHL appearances over parts of four seasons, the 25-year-old has gotten into 21 games with Utica, picking up two goals and seven assists. He and Parent will have to play in at least one game with the Comets before becoming recall-eligible again.
As a result of these moves, New Jersey now has one vacancy on its 23-player roster. That spot could be filled before long by one of their players currently on IR or a recall later on from the Comets.
Devils Place Timo Meier On Non-Roster List, Recall Calen Addison
According to a team announcement, the New Jersey Devils have placed forward Timo Meier on the non-roster list for personal leave/family health matter. New Jersey has recalled defenseman Calen Addison from the AHL’s Utica Comets in a corresponding roster move.
Factoring in the Devils’ announcement from a few days ago, when Meier initially took a personal leave of absence, it appears that he’s dealing with a family health matter. Unlike other designations, such as injured reserve or long-term injured reserve, there’s not a fixed amount of time that Meier has to miss before being eligible to return. Since no specifics have been provided, it is unclear how much time will be missed.
Like PHR’s Ethan Hetu said at the time, “the hockey implications are secondary in this sort of situation, it is important for us here at PHR to at least take a moment to break down the on-ice ripple effect of Meier’s absence.”
For however long Meier is absent from the lineup, and with center Jack Hughes rehabbing a freak hand injury, New Jersey will be without two of their first-line forwards for the time being. Hughes remains the team leader in points-per-game while Meier sits third on the team in scoring with 23 points in 30 games, being the Devils’ leading goal-scorer.
Their first game without the pair didn’t go well, though not because of any lack of offense. New Jersey suffered a blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning two nights ago, with Simon Nemec being one of three defensemen to earn a -2 rating.
He’s also the reason the Devils are replacing Meier with a defenseman on the active roster instead of a forward. According to James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now, Nemec injured himself a yesterday’s practice. There’s no timeline for his return aside from Nichols saying “he’s going to miss time.” It’s not expected to be a day-to-day injury.
Nemec, who’s off to a solid start this season, is leading the Devils in scoring among defensemen with seven goals and 18 points in 31 games. Now, without three of their top six scorers moving forward, New Jersey is likely to struggle to climb back into postseason positioning in the Eastern Conference. They’ve lost nine of their last 14 since Hughes exited the lineup.
If Addison plays, it’ll be his first NHL appearance since the 2023-24 campaign. The once 26-assist blue liner for the Minnesota Wild, Addison, is in his first year with the Devils organization, scoring two goals and nine points in 21 games for the AHL Comets.
Timo Meier Taking Personal Leave Of Absence
The New Jersey Devils announced today that forward Timo Meier is taking a personal leave of absence to tend to a family health matter.
As is customary in situations such as these, no further detail was provided nor was a timeline on Meier’s absence noted. That’s to be expected in situations like these, where the hockey, to be frank, becomes completely secondary to whatever is going on in the player’s off-ice life.
The Devils said in their statement “The entire organization supports Timo and his family and appreciates everyone respecting their privacy at this time.”
While, as mentioned, the hockey implications are secondary in this sort of situation, it is important for us here at PHR to at least take a moment to break down the on-ice ripple effect of Meier’s absence.
The core takeaway is that the Devils’ leading scorer on a points-per-game basis, Jack Hughes, remains out with an injury, so Meier’s leave of absence only further emphasizes the importance of the other key offensive players on the Devils. The unfortunate side effect of this development is that players such as Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, and rookie Arseni Gritsyuk now have an even greater level of importance to New Jersey’s efforts in terms of scoring goals.
Meier is in the midst of a strong offensive campaign, ranking third on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 23 points in 30 games. He’s a key power forward for the Devils, with at least 50 points in each campaign since arriving in New Jersey.
Meier is slotted in on the Devils’ first line alongside Hischier at the moment, but this development will mean head coach Sheldon Keefe will need to adjust his lineup. It’s possible veteran Ondrej Palat sees a promotion into Meier’s role while Meier is away from the team, or that Keefe elects to more substantially alter his lines beyond just promoting one player.
Again, while the hockey implications of this news might appear important, for the entire Devils organization, the hockey side of things is secondary to supporting Meier as he deals with this family health matter.
Hurricanes’ Frederik Andersen To Be Evaluated For Injury
Despite securing a commanding 3-1 lead in their Round One series against the New Jersey Devils, the Carolina Hurricanes could have a different look between the pipes for their remaining games. After colliding with Devils’ forward Timo Meier in front of the net only 24 minutes into the game, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman passed along a note from Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicating the team would evaluate netminder Frederik Andersen for an injury when the team returns to Raleigh.
It’s difficult to speculate on the specificity of the injury. Still, video footage appeared to show Meier making contact with Andersen’s head, and Andersen’s right leg becoming contorted once he falls backwards into the net. There was no penalty called on the play, and Brind’Amour expressed his frustration clearly, telling Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal, “If it goes in, it’s 100% goalie interference, right?”
In the postgame press scramble, Meier claims there was no ill intent on the play, telling team reporter Amanda Stein, “I’m trying to get behind Svechnikov and get open for the passing lane. And Svechnikov pushed me in, obviously no intent there, and hope he’s not injured too bad. But nothing on my side that I could have done differently.”
Despite any possible disciplinary actions against Meier, the Hurricanes face familiar challenges with their goaltending. Andersen failed to appear in more than 40 games for the fourth time in five years during the 2024-25 campaign, largely due to a knee injury that kept him on the injured reserve for three months.
Still, he provided quality goaltending when healthy, managing a 13-8-1 record in 22 games with a .899 SV% and 2.50 GAA. It’s not quite the efficiency Carolina has been used to from Andersen over the last several years, but it’s more than enough considering the team playing in front of him.
Due to Andersen’s various injuries over the last several years, the Hurricanes have allowed netminder Pyotr Kochetkov to receive many of the starts. Kochetkov had an up-and-down year during the regular season, finishing with a 27-16-3 record in 47 games, a .897 SV%, and 2.60 GAA. He filled in nicely for Andersen today, posting a .933 SV% in approximately 36 minutes of gameplay.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Hurricanes manage if Andersen should miss any time. They’ve averaged 3.5 GF/G through four games against the Devils, indicating they may not be able to win on their offense alone. Kochetkov hasn’t proven a valuable goaltender in the past come postseason play, but that will have to change this spring if Carolina has any hopes of continuing without Andersen.
Timo Meier Receives One-Game Suspension
1:18 PM: The NHL’s Department of Player Safety didn’t take long to deliberate. They’ve announced a one-game suspension for Meier for his cross-check on L’Heureux last night.
9:29 AM: The National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety has announced that New Jersey Devils forward Timo Meier will have a hearing for his cross-check to the face of Nashville Predators forward Zachary L’Heureux. Meier will face supplemental discipline for an incident that occurred at the 12:17 mark of the third period of last night’s game. The penalty forced New Jersey to kill off a five-minute major while the team held a two-goal lead. The Devils went on to win the game by a score of 5-2.
Despite winning the game, the Devils were pushed around for much of the night. Before the Meier cross-checks, L’Heureux caught Devils forward Paul Cotter with a hip check that sent him to the New Jersey bench in obvious discomfort. L’Heureux and Meier then engaged in a battle after the whistle where L’Heureux gave Meier a shot in the back and then Meier hit him back with two cross-checks, the second of which caught the 21-year-old L’Heureux up high.
Meier has never missed any NHL games due to a suspension in his eight-year NHL career but has had to pay out some fines. During his rookie season in 2017-18, he was fined for elbowing then Vancouver Canucks defenseman Michael Del Zotto, then in 2019 he was given a $2000 fine for a second offense of Rule 64, which concerns diving and embellishment.
Meier’s hearing will take place today, and although the NHL hasn’t formally announced whether it will be a phone or in-person hearing, the tight timeline indicates that it will be a phone hearing.
Metropolitan Notes: Chytil, Romanov, Devils, Jarvis
It appears to be good news on the injury front for Rangers center Filip Chytil. After being held back from their road trip amid concerns of a possible concussion, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan relays that the 25-year-old has been cleared to join the team and will catch up with them in Calgary. However, that shouldn’t be viewed as Chytil being cleared to play as he’s still listed as day-to-day. Chytil is off to a good start this season for New York, notching four goals and five assists in 15 contests despite averaging just 13:40 of playing time per game, his lowest ATOI since his rookie season.
More from the Metropolitan:
- The Islanders announced (Twitter link) that blueliner Alexander Romanov was cleared to return for tonight’s game against Calgary. Originally diagnosed as out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, the 24-year-old has only played once in the last three weeks, sitting for more than two after trying to return early. He’s a welcome addition to a back end that’s also missing Adam Pelech and Mike Reilly. Romanov has two assists in eight games so far this season with a career-high ATOI of 21:37.
- Devils winger Timo Meier (back spasms) and defenseman Brett Pesce (maintenance day) didn’t take part in practice today, relays James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. However, both players aren’t expected to miss any time. Meanwhile, winger Nathan Bastian returned to practice despite being moved to injured reserve yesterday. He has missed close to three weeks due to a fractured jaw but while he’s now back on the ice, he’s not quite ready to return to the lineup just yet.
- While Hurricanes winger Seth Jarvis skated today in a non-contact jersey, he is listed as doubtful for Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia, relays team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). The 22-year-old is dealing with an upper-body injury and was moved to injured reserve retroactive to last week, meaning he can be activated as soon as he gets the green light to return. Jarvis is off to a solid start to his season with four goals and seven assists in 13 games before sustaining the injury.
List Of Players Getting Trade Protection On July 1st
In the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, the league players can procure three types of No-Move Clauses in their contracts. The only stipulations to these clauses are that the player in question must be 27 years of age or older and must have accrued seven years of service time at the NHL level. The three types of No-Move Clauses are as follows: No Movement Clause (NMC), No Trade Clause (NTC), and Modified NMC or NTC.
Per the current CBA, an NMC means that a player cannot be waived, assigned to minors, or traded without their consent, and they also must be protected in the event of an Expansion Draft. An NTC is straightforward — giving the player protection from being traded without their approval. Lastly, a modified NMC or NTC sets an arbitrary number of teams and a time frame when a player can use this protection. In just over a week, an assortment of players will receive trade protection on their current contracts, and CapFriendly has broken it down.
No Movement Clauses
D Charlie McAvoy (Boston)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina)
D Devon Toews (Colorado)
F Roope Hintz (Dallas)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota)
F Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
F Timo Meier (New Jersey)
G Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (Washington)
No Trade Clauses
F Ross Colton (Colorado)
D Nick Seeler (Philadelphia)
D Vince Dunn (Seattle)
F Clayton Keller (Utah)
D Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)
Modified No Trade Clauses
F Jordan Greenway (Buffalo) – eight-team no-trade list
F Tage Thompson (Buffal0) – five-team no-trade list
D Rasmus Andersson (Calgary) – six-team no-trade list
D Samuel Girard (Colorado) – nine-team no-trade list
F Miles Wood (Colorado) – six-team no-trade list
F Alex DeBrincat (Detroit) – 16-team no-trade list
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – 10-team no-trade list
F Nico Hischier (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
D John Marino (New Jersey) – eight-team no-trade list
D Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
F Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders) – 22-team no-trade list
D Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – 10-team no-trade list
F Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay) – 16-team no-trade list
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg) – 10-team no-trade list
Devils’ Timo Meier To Undergo Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery
The injury woes don’t end just because the season did, something New Jersey Devils winger Timo Meier has found out after opting to undergo an elective arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder. The procedure will take place today, performed by Dr. Jonathan L. Glashow and Dr. Guillem Gonzalez-Lomas, the Devils’ chief medical officer and team orthopedic surgeon. Meier is expected to make a full recovery before the team’s 2024 training camp. This procedure will hold Meier out of the World Championship, as confirmed by Switzerland’s national team (Twitter link).
Meier appeared in 69 games this season, missing time to double MCL injuries in November and an oblique injury in January. He didn’t miss a game after returning to the lineup on January 17th, working towards 28 goals and 52 points on the season. While admirable scoring, the year marked Meier’s lowest-scoring pace of the last three seasons. That could be a result of playing through a shoulder injury, though the extent of his injury hasn’t been confirmed.
Arthroscopic surgery has grown in practice over recent years, with Alex Killorn and Vladimir Tarasenko undergoing similar surgeries on their knees over the last five years. The last shoulder surgery of this kind came in 2019 when Erik Johnson went under the knife following Colorado’s exit in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Dany Heatley also underwent the surgery in 2013, holding him out of the end of the 2012-13 season. The procedure is meant to be preventative and minimally invasive, with the goal of identifying joint-related issues or small tears.
While he played in a majority of New Jersey’s games and put up impressive scoring, there’s no doubt that Meier will be happy to move on from an injury-plagued 2023-24 season. He’ll spend the summer fully focused on rehabbing his injuries, eyeing a productive return to a New Jersey offense that could be commanded by a new head coach – with interim Travis Green not yet awarded the full-time role.
Devils Notes: Barabosha, Meier, Foote, Hughes, Nemec
According to James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now, the New Jersey Devils have lost one of their defensive prospects for the next three years. In the article, Nichols announces that defenseman Artyom Barabosha has signed a three-year extension with CSKA Moskva of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Nevertheless, it may be the best option forward for both player and organization, as Barabosha’s future with the Devils was always a longshot considering he was the 198th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft. Now that he is committed to the KHL for the next three years, New Jersey can continue to let him develop in a comfortable environment while retaining his signing rights.
In his first year in the KHL this past season, Barabosha suited up in 21 games for CSKA Moskva, scoring one goal and five points in total. While offensive play is not his strong suit, Barabosha is a punishing defender, regularly laying devastating hits without remorse against his opposition overseas.
Other Devils notes:
- In his first full season with the Devils, forward Timo Meier got off to an unexpectedly slow start. Thanks to team reporter Amanda Stein, we now have a little more information regarding Meier’s poor play from October into December. Stein reports that Meier was dealing with two separate MCL injuries, causing him to score just nine goals and 16 points in his first 30 games, while also causing him to miss stretches of games entirely.
- Only managing to string together eight games combined between the NHL and the AHL, Nolan Foote had a season to forget. Stein reports that Foote was dealing with a lingering back issue that cost him the season, and has also caused him to miss time the last four years. Without alluding to the possibility of surgery, it is the most likely outcome for Foote to continue his professional career without missing any more time.
- With most members of New Jersey having their eyes set on the 2024-25 offseason, some players are looking ahead to the 2024 IIHF World Championships that begin on May 10th. For the first time in his career, young defenseman Luke Hughes will join Team USA for the tournament (X Link). Only a year removed from international competition, Hughes was a member of the U20 Team USA roster that earned a bronze medal in the 2022-23 IIHF World Junior Championship.
- Joining Hughes in the World Championships will be fellow defenseman Simon Nemec, who will be joining Team Slovakia (X Link). Unlike Hughes, Nemec did suit up for Team Slovakia in last year’s World Championships, while also scoring one goal and five points in five games in the 2022-23 IIHF World Junior Championship.