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Xavier Ouellet

Training Camp Cuts: 09/26/19

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Like always, we’ll keep you aware of all the training camp cuts right here. Keep checking back to see the updated list:

Anaheim Ducks (per team release)

F Alex Broadhurst (to San Diego, AHL)
D Hunter Drew (to San Diego, AHL)
D Zack Hayes (to San Diego, AHL)
F Justin Kloos (to San Diego, AHL)
F Jack Kopacka (to San Diego, AHL)
D Patrick Sieloff (to San Diego, AHL)
D Chris Wideman (to San Diego, AHL)
G Anthony Stolarz (to San Diego, AHL)

Boston Bruins (per team release)

F Ryan Fitzgerald (to Providence, AHL)
F Joona Koppanen (to Providence, AHL)
F Zach Senyshyn (to Providence, AHL)
F Pavel Shen (to Providence, AHL)
F Oskar Steen (to Providence, AHL)
D Jeremy Lauzon (to Providence, AHL)
D Urho Vaakanainen (to Providence, AHL)
G Kyle Keyser (to Providence, AHL)
F Paul Carey (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Brendan Gaunce (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Alexander Petrovic (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)

Buffalo Sabres (per team release)

F Dylan Cozens (to Lethbridge, WHL)

Carolina Hurricanes (per team release)

F Morgan Geekie (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Janne Kuokkanen (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Steven Lorentz (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Eetu Luostarinen (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Stelio Mattheos (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Jake Bean (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Kyle Wood (to Charlotte, AHL)
G Alex Nedeljkovic (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Jesper Sellgren (to Lulea HF, SHL)
F Ryan Suzuki (to Barrie, OHL)

Colorado Avalanche (per team release)

D Bowen Byram (to Vancouver, WHL)
F Martin Kaut (to Colorado, AHL)
F Sheldon Dries (to Colorado, AHL)
F Logan O’Connor (to Colorado, AHL)
F Michael Joly (to Colorado, AHL)
G Hunter Miska (to Colorado, AHL)
D Jacob MacDonald (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Dan Renouf (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)

Edmonton Oilers (per team release)

F Kailer Yamamoto (to Bakersfield, AHL)

Florida Panthers (per team release)

F Anthony Greco (to Springfield, AHL)
D Ian McCoshen (to Springfield, AHL)
G Chris Driedger (to Springfield, AHL)

Montreal Canadiens (per team release)

F Matthew Peca (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Phil Varone (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Dale Weise (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Karl Alzner (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Xavier Ouellet (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)

New York Rangers (per team release)

F Daniel O’Regan (to Hartford, AHL)

Ottawa Senators (per team release)

F Parker Kelly (to Belleville, AHL)
G Marcus Hogberg (to Belleville, AHL)
F Nick Paul (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Jordan Szwarz (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)

Vegas Golden Knights (per Jesse Granger, The Athletic)

F Reid Duke (to Chicago, AHL)
D Dylan Coughlan (to Chicago, AHL)

Montreal Canadiens Re-Sign Xavier Ouellet

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The Montreal Canadiens have re-signed Xavier Ouellet to a one-year, two-way contract that pays him $700K at the NHL level. Ouellet was set to become a restricted free agent this summer.

Now 25, Ouellet has had quite the odd start to his NHL career. After being selected in the second round by the Detroit Red Wings in 2011, he quickly made his way through their system and debuted in the NHL during the 2013-14 season. By 2017, he signed a two-year $2.5MM extension with the Red Wings after spending the entire year in the NHL, but saw that contract bought out just a year later. It’s rare you see a player that young bought out, and it actually comes with different rules. The Red Wings were forced to pay out just one third of the remaining salary, ~$433K spread over two years.

Ouellet, then an unrestricted free agent, signed a one-year two-way contract with the Canadiens to continue his career. While he played 19 games for Montreal, his real impact came at the minor league level where the Laval Rocket named him captain in February after a trade took Byron Froese out of town. Oullet ended up with 28 points in 47 games for the Rocket as their primary puck-mover on the blue line, and now heads into next season as the young captain of a squad trying to make their way in the AHL.

He also represents some important depth for the Canadiens, given that he does have 160 games under his belt at the NHL level. Ouellet will be waiver eligible, meaning he’ll have to clear after training camp if the team wants him to reclaim his position with the Rocket to start the year.

Xavier Ouellet Clears Waivers

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12/8: Ouellet has cleared waivers and has been reassigned by the Habs to the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

12/7: The Montreal Canadiens have placed another young player on waivers, as Xavier Ouellet finds himself there today. The Canadiens are expecting Noah Juulsen back this weekend, and needed to clear some room on the blue line for him.

Ouellet, 25, has played 19 games for the Canadiens this season after signing a one-year, two-way deal in the summer. Bought out of his previous contract with the Detroit Red Wings, Ouellet landed in the city where he started his junior career, and looked to be a capable fill-in while the Canadiens waited for Shea Weber and company to get healthy. He’d fallen out of favor in Detroit, but was still young enough to establish himself in the NHL.

Unfortunately, Ouellet finds himself in an overcrowded group now that Juulsen is set to return and Brett Kulak has played his way into the lineup. The Canadiens will have eight healthy defensemen and needed to make a decision on someone. Ouellet is the only one of them outside of Juulsen that is on a two-way deal, which may have factored into the decision. That $700K two-way deal might be interesting to someone else around the league though, as he provides a relatively cheap option that has experience coming in and out of the lineup.

The Canadiens have already lost Nikita Scherbak and Jacob de La Rose on waivers this season, and very well could lose Ouellet tomorrow. Though none of the three are exactly fundamental players on their roster, losing depth for nothing is never the ideal situation. The Canadiens have plenty of contract slots available, and are likely hoping that Ouellet can sneak through and report to the Laval Rocket of the AHL.

Montreal Canadiens Facing Difficult Decision On Defense

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The Montreal Canadiens are coming off another loss, this time at the hands of the New Jersey Devils who scored five goals in the first two periods. Montreal now sits fifth in the Atlantic Division with 26 points and a -3 goal differential. That’s not very impressive, but it does at least keep them in the playoff race as they await the return of their captain. Shea Weber is ahead of schedule and could be back on the ice before long, which while obviously good news also likely means the end of someone else’s tenure on the NHL roster. That’s what Eric Engels details in his latest for Sportsnet, breaking down the various options that the Canadiens have to make room for Weber.

The most startling of these options may be the idea that the Canadiens could waive Karl Alzner, less than 18 months after signing him to a five-year contract worth more than $23MM. The team has already sat the veteran defenseman in the press box for most of the season, getting him into just six games over their first 22. Importantly though, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet adds in his latest 31 Thoughts column that the Canadiens have been looking to trade a defenseman instead of risking them on waivers. In Alzner’s case it doesn’t seem like much of a risk given his high salary, but for some of the others—Jordie Benn, David Schlemko and Xavier Ouellet are mentioned as trade options in Engels’ piece—there would certainly be teams willing to take a shot.

Montreal is not in a place to be giving away assets for free, given their current balancing act on the line between competitiveness and concern. The team has played well this season to say in the mix and has some promising chemistry forming up front between Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin. Still, even with the emergence of Jesperi Kotkaniemi the team is lacking real impact prospects and could need to try and retool over the next few seasons.

So a trade, given the circumstances, seems the most beneficial option. Whether that will come to pass is still to be seen, especially given the fact that the rest of the league can see the situation that GM Marc Bergevin is in. Noah Juulsen’s injury may buy him a bit more time, but at some point something will have to happen on the Montreal blue line. Defense-needy teams will be watching closely.

Snapshots: Ouellet, Ryan, Utah

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Xavier Ouellet was bought out by the Detroit Red Wings to open up some roster spots for their young defensive prospects, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be part of an NHL organization next year. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that the Montreal Canadiens have “kicked the tires” on Ouellet since his buyout, indicating that there is at least some interest.

Ouellet was actually born in France but played his minor hockey just outside Montreal and captained the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada during his QMJHL career. It would be a homecoming of sorts for the 24-year old defenseman should he sign with the Canadiens, who have a lot of experience on the blue line but found little success there last season. Montreal may not have room to add him on the NHL roster, but he would certainly provide a solid option for the Laval Rocket who are trying to rebuild after a disastrous season that included losing the last twelve games of the regular season.

  • The Calgary Flames are interested in their own version of reconnecting a player with a familiar structure, though this time it’s not a hometown. Derek Ryan is visiting the Flames today according to Frank Seravalli of TSN, a good fit given that his former head coach Bill Peters is now running the show. Peters was the coach who gave Ryan his first crack at the NHL after a long and winding hockey career, and the 31-year old center rewarded him with a 38-point season in 2017-18. Ryan is one of the top centers available this summer behind John Tavares, despite his relatively little experience in the NHL. Making his debut at the age of 29, he has just 153 games under his belt to this point.
  • The Utah Grizzlies are the new ECHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, extending their organizational structure to a third tier below the newly promoted Colorado Eagles. The Eagles won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup in each of the past two seasons, but were bumped up to the AHL as a 31st team to provide equal numbers with the NHL. Utah wasn’t so lucky, missing the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade. The Avalanche will try to turn that around immediately, and make a commitment to developing a solid prospect base for the Grizzlies to work with.

Xavier Ouellet Expected To Be Bought Out

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Earlier this month we heard that the Detroit Red Wings were actively shopping defenseman Xavier Ouellet, but now as we close in on free agency it seems they’ve come to a different decision. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Red Wings will place Ouellet on waivers for the purpose of a buyout. Ouellet has one year remaining on his contract and carries a $1.25MM cap hit. Since he’s still just 24 though, a buyout would only pay him 1/3rd of his remaining salary, meaning the Red Wings would incur the following cap charges:

  • 2018-19: $166,667
  • 2019-29: $216,667

They would also save over $860K in real salary, while burying Ouellet in the minor leagues would leave them with a $225K cap charge this season and force them to pay all $1.3MM in salary. Though it was clear that the Red Wings didn’t see a future for Ouellet in Detroit, buyouts for players this young are fairly rare. The 2011 second-round pick hasn’t found a full-time role with the team and with several even younger prospects ready to push for jobs this season there is no longer any room.

The Red Wings had an outstanding weekend, snatching up Filip Zadina after he fell a few spots and collecting Joe Veleno at the end of the first round. Those two were paired with a few other excellent prospects at the start of the second, making quite an impressive haul for the team in this year’s draft. Detroit is in the middle of a rebuild as they try to get out from under some of the bad contracts given out during their playoff run, and are building quite the prospect pipeline in a short amount of time. Defensemen like Dennis Cholowski and Filip Hronek will be competing for roles in the NHL before long, while Zadina could jump into the league right away.

For Ouellet, it’s unclear where his market will land after this buyout. Not many 24-year old defensemen get an opportunity at free agency, but there obviously wasn’t a huge trade market or the Red Wings would have used that instead of resorting to a buyout. He may have to accept a two-way contract and prove himself in training camp, or else try to fight back up from the minor leagues at some point. Regardless, this is hardly the end of his professional career.

Detroit Red Wings Actively Shopping Xavier Ouellet

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In Craig Custance’ latest piece for The Athletic (subscription required), he lists through 20 names that could be moved this summer. Number 19, Nick Jensen of the Detroit Red Wings, comes with an interesting first paragraph:

The Red Wings are actively shopping defenseman Xavier Ouellet, who has one year remaining on a contract worth $1.25 million. “He wants a fresh start,” Red Wings GM Ken Holland said last week at the draft combine. That’s not necessarily an easy assignment since Ouellet had trouble cracking the lineup on a Detroit team that wasn’t particularly good.

Though Jensen is the target of the blurb, Ouellet sticks out as an interesting note as we get closer to draft day. The 24-year old defenseman has been underwhelming through his 141-game NHL career, but still could posses enough upside for a team to take a chance on him. The fact that the Red Wings are trying to move him doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as they currently project to have a bit of a logjam on defense next season if everyone comes back healthy.

Ouellet, selected 48th-overall in 2011, still hasn’t found a full-time role for the Red Wings. In 45 games this season he recorded just seven points, averaging fewer than 14 minutes a night. With the sheltered role—or perhaps in spite of it—Ouellet actually did put up reasonably good possession statistics and could be seen as an underutilized asset to another team. The league is getting a first-hand look at what underwhelming players can do in the right situation, with several of the Vegas defenders and Michal Kempny who is starring for the Washington Capitals after believing he was on his way out of the NHL just a few months ago.

Still, it’s hard to see the Red Wings bringing back anything of real value for Ouellet. Though a $1.25MM contract isn’t outlandish, it also might be a little too much for a team to risk when they don’t exactly know what kind of contribution they’ll get. That’s not to say there won’t be any takers, but to expect much of a return seems foolish at this point.

Trade Notes: Rangers, Avalanche, Predators

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Despite the trade deadline being more than a month away, rumors are flying around the NHL. TSN’s Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun, and Bob McKenzie appeared on Insider Trading this evening to discuss the rumblings they’re hearing from around the league…

  • Rangers wingers Rick Nash and Michael Grabner are expected to be highly sought after prior to the deadline, and Dreger says the Rangers are “leaning towards being open for business.” Of course, the reporter cautions that it would take a lot for a team to acquire Nash, who has yet to be asked for his 12-team trade list. The 33-year-old has 13 goals and 10 assists this season, while the 30-year-old Grabner has compiled 20 goals and four assists.
  • There’s also a lot of trade speculation surrounding Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh, but it’s believed the veteran won’t be moved until the offseason. The 28-year-old has spent his entire NHL career in New York, and he’s on pace to set a career high in assists this season.
  • Many fans thought Colorado would end up being a seller prior to the deadline, but the Avalanche are currently riding a 10-game win streak. The team could ultimately be buyers prior to the deadline, but general manager Joe Sakic is debating whether he wants to disrupt team chemistry by adding another player to the roster.
  • The Canadiens predictably won’t be adding add big names prior to the deadline, and the team is still finalizing their trade deadline strategy. However, it’s believed the team could be active in trade talks as they look to improve their roster for next season.
  • The Predators are looking to add a top-six winger to their roster, but they’re willing to wait before jumping on a trade. LeBrun mentions Max Pacioretty, Mike Hoffman, and Evander Kane as potential targets.
  • The Red Wings are telling teams that defenseman Xavier Ouellet is available. The former second-round pick has been a bit underwhelming this season, compiling only four goals and four assists.

Xavier Ouellet Re-Signs With Detroit Red Wings

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The Detroit Red Wings have re-signed an important young defender, inking Xavier Ouellet to a two-year, $2.5MM contract. That gives the Red Wings nine defensemen under NHL contracts.

Ouelett, 23, was perhaps the brightest spot on defense for the Red Wings last season, getting into 66 games and recording 12 points. The second-round pick has some sneaky offensive upside, and will be relied upon even more next season in a bigger role. With the team bringing in Trevor Daley and Luke Witkowski, and still having Mike Green and Danny DeKeyser under contract, Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson’s roles are slowly being diminished. Ouellet’s emergence will speed that process up even further, as he should get a regular shift all season this year.

It’s interesting to note that though the Red Wings aren’t expected to compete, they’ve added more defensemen than they need for next season. Perhaps that could mean a move of Green or someone else is on their way out this summer, or that they plan on hoarding assets until the trade deadline once again. By dealing players like Brendan Smith and Tomas Jurco last summer the team was able to collect some extra draft picks, a process they’re likely to repeat this year.

Early Expansion Protection News: Capitals, Kings, Flames, Predators, And More

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The 2017 NHL Expansion Draft is an exciting process. If you’re too riled up to wait until the lists are officially submitted in the morning, you’re in luck. As could be expected, information leaks are flooding in on who was and wasn’t protected by their teams ahead of the deadline this afternoon. This list will be updated all night long as more news comes in:

  • One not so obvious choice has been made in Nashville. Adam Vingan of The Tennessean answered a question on the minds of many, reporting that the Predators did in fact protect forward Calle Jarnkrok. With the rest of the eight-skater list all but set in stone with goalie Pekka Rinne, defensemen Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm, and star forwards Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, and Viktor Arvidsson, the final forward spot came down to Jarnkrok, signed long-term, or James Neal, an elite scorer with just one year remaining on his contract. It seems that Neal will be open for selection, alongside names like Colton Sissons, Colin Wilson, and Craig Smith. Vignan adds that no deal has been struck between Vegas and the Predators to protect any of those players, with Nashville especially liking to retain Neal and Sissons.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that, interestingly enough, young Detroit Red Wings defenseman Xavier Ouellet was not protected by his team. This is the first real surprise of the expansion process and the first protection news that doesn’t match up with PHR’s Expansion Primer projections. The 23-year-old skated in 66 games this season for Detroit, third most among defenseman, and his 12 points tied that of top-pair man Danny DeKeyser. Yet, Ouellett will not join DeKeyser and Mike Green in protection, instead beaten out by another teammate. GM Ken Holland, who has gotten the reputation of perhaps being too loyal, possibly chose aging veteran Niklas Kronwall over Ouellet. Hopefully that doesn’t come back to bite the rebuilding Red Wings.
  • Another name confirmed to be unprotected is young Vancouver Canucks center Brendan Gaunce. Vancouver sports anchor Rick Dhaliwal was told that that Gaunce, a 2012 first-round pick, did not make the protection list for the Canucks, expected to be a 7/3 format, meaning that the team saw him as outside the top seven forwards on the team. The 23-year-old two-way specialist has upside, but after registering just five points in 57 games last season, no one will blame Vancouver for that choice.

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