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Minor Transactions: 1/21/2017

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Here is where we will track the day’s minor roster transactions:

  • The New Jersey Devils have announced that Blake Coleman has been reassigned to Albany of the AHL to make room for Vernon Fiddler, who the team activated off of IR. Coleman has appeared in five games, the first of his career, since being recalled on January 10th and registered a single point. Fiddler, in his 14th NHL campaign, has tallied a goal with two assists in 35 contests on the year.
  • Erik Condra’s wild ride in Tampa Bay continues as the winger has once again been placed on waivers by the team, according to James Mirtle. It’s the second time this season he has been on waivers, the first time clearing before a reassignment to the Syracuse Crunch, Tampa’s affiliate in the AHL. Additionally, Condra has shuttled between Tampa Bay and Syracuse seven times in total this season as the Lightning have used the seven-year veteran extensively as a fill-in for several injured regulars. All told, Condra has appeared in 10 games for Tampa Bay but has failed to register a point while averaging 9:41 of ice time per game. Assuming he again clears, Condra will almost certainly be reassigned to Syracuse once more.
  • With Jake McCabe forced to leave last night’s game against Detroit due to injury, the Buffalo Sabres this morning have recalled defenseman Casey Nelson from Rochester of the AHL, tweets Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. Nelson, 24, is scoreless in eight earlier appearances this season for the Sabres. In 27 games for Rochester, the Wisconsin native has tallied four goals and five assists.
  • The San Jose Sharks brought Tim Heed and Barclay Goodrow back from the AHL ahead of tonight’s game against Colorado, reports Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News. Heed has already had three other tours with the big club, making just one appearance on the campaign. The recall also represents the third stint this season with the Sharks for Goodrow. Though he has yet to play for the team this year, it appears that could change tonight. In 74 career NHL contests, Goodrow has scored four goals with 11 assists along with 51 penalty minutes.

San Jose Sharks Send Goodrow, Heed To AHL

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After their 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, the San Jose Sharks have sent Barclay Goodrow and Tim Heed back to the San Jose Barracuda in the AHL. The team will play the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday and again on Monday, and it’s unclear who they will bring up or replace these two with.

Both Tomas Hertl and Dylan DeMelo are expected to be out for at least another few weeks, meaning the team now has only 21 roster spots filled. Perhaps the organization just wants them to get into a couple of games, as even though the Barracuda are on the road, they’re playing two games in state. Tonight they take on the San Diego Gulls, and tomorrow the Ontario Reign. Both players could travel with the NHL squad on Sunday when they hit the road.

Heed is having an exceptional year in the AHL, scoring 32 points in 29 games from the back end. This comes in his first season in North America after coming over from Sweden. The former fifth-round pick is exceptionally undersized for a defenseman at just 5’11, 165 lbs but can do enough things right to be able to contribute at the NHL level.

Goodrow went undrafted before making an immediate impact at the NHL level in 2014-15, playing in 60 games less than a year removed from playing in junior. While he was a consistent goal-scorer for the Battalion (Brampton and then North Bay), he never projected as much of an offensive talent in the NHL. Since signing though, he’s been a fine addition to the Sharks organization, scoring in the AHL and playing solid bottom-six minutes for the NHL club when called upon.

Pacific Notes: Sharks, White, Shaw, Frolik

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Although there’s a good chance that the Sharks will lose a defenseman by next year, either via the Las Vegas expansion draft or a trade, it’s unlikely that they will opt to move that defender now, suggests CSN Bay Area’s Kevin Kurz.

San Jose finds themselves in the bottom half of the league in goals per game, which is something they’d like to improve upon.  Their strength so far this season has been on the defensive side of things where they allow the third fewest shots per game.   Accordingly, moving one of their defenders such as Justin Braun to bring in that scoring help would just trade one hole on the roster for another.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • The Coyotes are hopeful that center Ryan White can return to the lineup tonight against the Wild, notes Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic. The 28 year old last suited up on December 21st and has missed the last 11 games with a lower body injury.  While White won’t bring much in the way of offense to the table when he returns (he has just seven points in 30 games this season), he’ll give them a physical presence in their bottom six.  Arizona is carrying a full 23-man roster so a move will need to be made in order to activate him off injured reserve.
  • After passing through waivers earlier this season with the Panthers, center Logan Shaw is carving out a niche for himself with the Ducks, writes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. Shaw is taking a regular turn on their penalty kill as he helps to fill the void left by Nate Thompson (who has missed the entire year with an Achilles injury) and in doing so, has taken a bit of the workload off of Ryan Kesler as well.  Head coach Randy Carlyle would like to see Shaw become a threat at the faceoff dot but he’s a career 35% on the draw so it may take a little while for him to develop that element of his game.
  • Calgary left winger Michael Frolik has never been a big scorer at the NHL level (his career high in points came in his rookie campaign in 2008-09) but that hasn’t stopped him from being linked to one of the leading scorers in NHL history, notes Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun. Frolik was born in Kladno of the Czech Republic, birthplace of Jaromir Jagr and accordingly, his nickname growing up was ‘Baby Jagr’.  While he was a top offensive threat at the junior level, he has evolved into more of a two-way forward in recent years.  Although reliable two-way threats can carve out a long career in the NHL, Frolik doesn’t anticipate having anywhere near the staying power of Jagr, who’s set to turn 45 next week.

Snapshots: Sharks, Capuano, Pavelec

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • The San Jose Sharks have placed sophomore Joonas Donskoi on injured reserve, reports CSN’s Kevin Kurz. Donski will miss his third straight game with an upper body injury, but Kurz indicates that the injury is not serious. Donskoi is off to a slow start this season with only 6G and 8A in 41 games. According to the Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka, the Finnish forward continues to skate with the team, but does not want to return to early lest he aggravates the injury. The Sharks recalled forwards Ryan Carpenter, Barclay Goodrow, and defenseman Tim Heed from the AHL San Jose Barracuda. The trio of recalls suggest another injury elsewhere in the lineup.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman thinks that recently-fired New York Islanders head coach’s demise stems partly from bad goaltending. He also states that the Isles did not want to wait until the end of the year because of an anticipated hot coaching market. The Vegas Golden Knights are also looking for a head coach, and the Isles hope they can get a jump on the competition. Finally, it allows the team to evaluate its talent under a different voice. Players can bloom or wilt under a certain coach, so the change will allows the Isles front office to see which players are worth keeping.
  • Winnipeg Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec will start Wednesday night against the Arizona Coyotes. Pavelec was relegated to the AHL after a poor start this season. While his numbers haven’t drastically improved, Winnipeg’s goaltending situation is dire and the team hopes Pavelec can right the ship. Pavelec earned a 2.78 GAA and a .917 SV% in 18 games for the Minnesota Moose—good for 28th and 13th in the league, respectively.

Minor Transactions: 1/17/2017

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The Anaheim Ducks continue to use frequent promotions and demotions to their advantage. With their AHL affiliate now right down the road, and not somewhere on the Eastern seaboard, it has become much easier and less costly to swap young players in and out and the Ducks are at it once again. Anaheim announced last night that defenseman Shea Theodore and forward Stefan Noesen are heading to the San Diego Gulls. Theodore has been back and forth a few different times so far in 2016-17, as he searches for consistency. In 19 NHL games last season, Theodore had three goals and five assists and was a +7. Through 23 games this year, he has just one goal and six assists while playing to a -7. With all of the blue line depth that the Ducks enjoy, they can afford to let Theodore find his game in the AHL (nine points in eleven games) and still call him up when necessary. Noesen, a 2011 first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators who was acquired alongside Jakob Silfverberg in the Bobby Ryan trade, has not panned out like Silfverberg has. Noesen has played in just eleven NHL games, nine of which have come this season, and has recorded just a single point. Quickly approaching 24-years-old, Noesen appears to be a bona fide bust.

Update (1:00pm CT): After demoting Theodore and Noesen last night, the Ducks have promoted the same pair this afternoon. Anaheim continues to be the poster-team for AHL transactions in 2016-17, squeezing ever little bit of salary cap savings they can out of numerous moves.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Penguins announced that they have recalled defenseman Cameron Gaunce from their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  They also re-assigned fellow blueliner David Warsofsky to the minors.  This will be Gaunce’s first stint with Pittsburgh after joining the team in the offseason.  He has two goals and six assists with the Baby Pens this season.  As for Warsofsky, he got into two games with Pittsburgh since last being recalled.  On the season, he has suited up in six games with the team, being held off the scoresheet.  In 24 AHL games though, he has fared much better, tallying 28 points.
  • The Oilers announced that they have re-assigned blueliner Jordan Oesterle to Bakersfield of the AHL.  He did not get into a game with Edmonton after being recalled by the team on Sunday.  In 18 minor league contests this year, he has three goals and eight assists.
  • Having already claimed defenseman Brad Hunt and placed defenseman Petter Granberg on the injured reserve, a busy morning continued for the Nashville Predators as they re-assigned rookie forward Kevin Fiala to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. The Swiss winger has six goals and three assists on the season and has shown flashes of brilliance, but could use some more seasoning in order to build a more complete game. When the Predators can find him some extra play time down in the AHL, it only stands to help his development.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have sent impressive prospect Michael McCarron back down to the St. John’s Ice Caps of the AHL. The 2013 first-rounder was called up to help Montreal deal with a slew of injuries, but with the team getting healthier he has been returned to the minors. In 15 games with the Canadiens, McCarron registered a goal and three assists and didn’t look out of place at all. However, the 21-year-old will benefit more this season from top-six time with the Ice Caps than bottom-six play with the Canadiens. Look for McCarron to challenge for a full-time spot on the team next season. Or, if Montreal’s injury luck continues, it will be much sooner that he returns to the NHL.
  • Tim Heed and Ryan Carpenter will have to change locker rooms again, as the San Jose Sharks announced that the pair have been demoted to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda (down the hall to the right). The 25-year-old defenseman Heed is fresh off of his NHL debut last week, having been recalled due to his excellent AHL numbers. Heed is second in the minors in defenseman scoring with 31 points in 28 games with the Barracuda. Carpenter played three games for the Sharks back in November, skating on the team’s energy line, but has not made it into a game in any of his subsequent call-ups in 2016-17.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that they have recalled young defenseman Jake Dotchin from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. This is the first career call-up for Dotchin, who has become relevant within the organization as he enjoys a career year. In his third season with the Crunch, Dotchin is on pace to shatter his pro career-high of 20 points, set back in 2014-15, and is also a +10 after back-to-back minus seasons. The big, two-way defenseman only put up modest numbers in his OHL junior career as well and was a sixth-round selection back in 2012, so he has had to put in a lot of hard work to get to where he is and has earned a promotion. If Dotchin suits up for the Lightning tonight, he will be the 30th different player to line up for Tampa this season.
  • Following last night’s legendary contest, the Washington Capitals have returned Chandler Stephenson to the Hershey Bears of the AHL. However, Stephenson didn’t play in the game against the Penguins, or any game for that matter, in this most recent call-up, nor did he play in his earlier promotion this season. After being held scoreless in nine games in Washington last season, it seems the Capitals are in no rush to get the play-making forward back into the NHL lineup.

Garrioch’s Latest: Coyotes, Snow, Devils, Bishop, Van Riemsdyk

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Things aren’t going so rosy in Arizona right now.  Not only do they find themselves miles out of a playoff spot, the frustration is spreading to within the dressing room as well, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun in his latest Insider Trading column.  The decision to go to a more analytics-based decision making process hasn’t worked (so far, at least) and Garrioch adds that it’s not yet known what the fate of head coach Dave Tippett will be when the season comes to an end.

In the meantime, the focus will shift to who they can move prior to the trade deadline, particularly where it comes to the rental players.  We took a closer look at their situation earlier today.  The recent mention that Shane Doan could be willing to consider a trade in the right situation is drawing some attention; Garrioch notes that San Jose is a team that has shown some interest in the 40 year old over the last couple of years but obviously nothing came to fruition.

Garrioch also tackles several other topics from around the league.  Here are some of the highlights, though the full column is worth a read:

  • With the New York Islanders scuffling through the first half, he suggests that GM Garth Snow’s job may be in jeopardy. His decision to allow right winger Kyle Okposo and center Frans Nielsen to depart in free agency hasn’t exactly panned out with both players being named All-Stars earlier this week.  Left winger Andrew Ladd (signed to replace Okposo) hasn’t panned out and with six more years left on his contract with a cap hit of $5.5MM, that’s a near-impossible contract to move right now while John Tavares heading into his walk year is something that will need to be addressed sooner than later as well.  Accordingly, the team will have to make a decision as to whether he’s the right manager to try to fix things up and get Tavares locked up.
  • The Devils haven’t thrown in the towel on trying to make the playoffs yet but if they do, they could be a team to watch for. Only two teams have more cap space than New Jersey does which sets up the possibility of them becoming a clearinghouse for contending teams to free up some cap space.  GM Ray Shero could be open to doing so, provided he picks up some quality draft picks and/or prospects for doing so.
  • Dallas has inquired about the availability of pending UFA goalie Ben Bishop. Bishop, who ranked fifth in our UFA Power Rankings this week, isn’t expected to return to Tampa Bay next season with Andrei Vasilevskiy expected to take over as the starter.  The Stars already have the highest goalie cap hit in the league but have not received much bang for their buck so far.  However, GM Steve Yzerman’s asking price is quite high as it’s certainly quite possible that the Lightning will want to keep him around for their postseason push as well.
  • Toronto’s recent success may make their decision regarding left winger James van Riemsdyk that much more difficult. Garrioch reports that the team is fielding inquiries on him but he is a key piece in the Leafs’ lineup and if they plan to make a run at a playoff spot, they’ll likely want to keep him in their lineup.  The 27 year old has one year left after this season at a manageable cap hit of $4.25MM so it’s not a typical rental player situation while it’s also worth noting that van Riemsdyk has a modified no-trade clause.

Quotable: Darryl Sutter

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Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter has been one of the best interviews in hockey for a long time. He’s the perfect blend of one-liners and no-nonsense. In her latest “Practice Quotes” column, Lindsay Czarnecki jotted down some of Sutter’s latest responses. The whole thing is an amazing read as always, but here are some highlights:

On the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Victor Hedman (the Lightning are in town to face the Kings tomorrow):

He’s going to win the Norris. Now they don’t say is he, they say he is. He’s dynamic. He has some risk in his game. He can play physical, he’s fast. Plays special teams. There’s a handful of guys in the league, exciting guys to watch, don’t like playing against them. Wish I had two or three of them.

On long playoff runs:

It takes its toll. Guys are human, not machines. Look at guy like Jonathan [Quick]. Since I’ve been here in six years he’s had three major surgeries. It takes its toll. These guys play a lot of — everybody looks at these sexy numbers, how many games they’ve played and all that. You should also factor 150 playoff games as they count almost as double.

On expanding roster limits:

I think as long as you’re under the cap why can’t you have whatever you want? What difference does it make? To me it doesn’t make — what’s the point? You got a salary cap, everybody’s now at 75 million dollars, well, why can’t you have 25 guys?

The Kings will take on the Lightning tomorrow afternoon at 3pm before welcoming in the San Jose Sharks to town. After that is stretch where the team will play nine out of ten games on the road before their mandated bye-week. The team currently sits in the final wild card position in the West, but has several teams nipping at their heels. This stretch will be huge in deciding the team’s fate this season.

Minor Transactions: 1/13/17

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Here is where we’ll keep tabs on today’s minor roster moves:

  • Following their loss to Minnesota, the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that they assigned right winger Nikita Scherbak and left winger Bobby Farnham to their AHL affiliate in St. John’s. Scherbak played in three games with Montreal, picking up a goal while Farnham was held off the scoresheet in his three outings though he recorded 17 PIMS.  It’s believed the team is likely to have at least one of center Alex Galchenyuk or right winger Andrew Shaw back in the lineup shortly and these moves open up the roster spots for them to be activated off injured reserve.
  • The Lightning have recalled right winger Erik Condra from AHL Syracuse per a team release. The 30 year old has been up and down a lot recently but has yet to see much NHL action overall, skating in just eight games with Tampa this season.  He has collected 23 points (7-16-23) in 24 minor league contests but isn’t expected to be in the lineup tonight against Columbus.
  • Winnipeg announced that they have recalled blueliner Julian Melchiori from Manitoba of the AHL. He will take the roster spot of rookie winger Patrik Laine, who was placed on injured reserve retroactive to January 7th.  Melchiori has seen action in four games with the Jets this season but has spent most of the year with the Moose, picking up two goals and four assists in 31 minor league games.
  • The Sharks announced (Twitter link) that they have sent defenseman Mirco Mueller back to the San Jose Barracuda, their AHL affiliate. This marks the fourth separate occasion that he has been sent back to the minors this season.  He has got into just three NHL games this year, scoring a goal while adding an assist.  He also has eight helpers in 25 AHL contests.
  • New Jersey announced via Twitter that they have assigned right winger Nick Lappin to Albany of the AHL in order to activate center Jacob Josefson off injured reserve.  The 24 year old Lappin made his NHL debut earlier this year and has spent the bulk of this season with the Devils, collecting four goals and three assists in 35 games.

Snapshots: Burmistrov, Canucks, Ducks

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Since being selected off waivers on January 2nd, Alexander Burmistrov has still yet to make it to Arizona due to work visa issues. Now, according to Dave Vest the team’s director of news content, Burmistrov has his visa and is just waiting to get his passport back from the government. As soon as he does, he’ll fly out to Arizona and join the team.

The Coyotes hope he’ll be ready to play on Friday, when they’ll begin to evaluate what they have. The former top-10 draft pick has just two points this season and hasn’t developed into the dominant two-way center the Jets had hoped for when they selected him. The Coyotes will use the rest of this year to determine if they can find some use for him going forward, or if he’s just another busted prospect.

  • Pierre LeBrun says the Vancouver Canucks will not trade away draft picks for a short-term gain to get them into the playoffs. That would jive with what Frank Seravalli said earlier today when he said that gaining draft picks would probably be the priority for GM Jim Benning. LeBrun does say that if they could acquire a young player capable of contributing for the next few years they’d be open to it, but realistically who wouldn’t?
  • There’s a nasty flu going around the Anaheim Ducks room, reports Adrian Dater of Bleacher Report. That’s not good as starting tomorrow night the team has five games in eight nights and are fighting the San Jose Sharks for the first seed in the Pacific division. Luckily, they’ll face the hapless Avalanche twice during those games, with another one against the Coyotes to boot.
  • Dylan DeMelo will be out a couple of weeks, according to Kevin Kurz of CSN. The defenseman was seen in a cast tonight before the team’s game against the Calgary Flames. With DeMelo out, Tim Heed may work his way in on the bottom pairing at some point.

Pacific Division Snapshots: Vermette, Heed, Mueller, Tryamkin

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It came as a bit of a surprise when the Arizona Coyotes bought out the final season of forward Antoine Vermette’s contract. Joining the ranks of the unemployed in August is not ideal for any free agent as most teams have already expended their available salary cap space and have essentially finalized their rosters by that point. Fortunately for Vermette, Anaheim decided to roll the dice and add the veteran pivot, signing him to a two-year deal with an AAV of $1.75MM. As Sarah McLellan of AZ Central writes, while Vermette was certainly disappointed to move on from Arizona, the situation in Southern California has worked out quite well for the former Coyote, Blue Jacket, Senator and Blackhawk.

Through 41 games with the Ducks, Vermette has scored seven goals and registered 18 points while winning 64.3% of the faceoffs he has taken. Anaheim head coach Randy Carlyle is glad to have the veteran two-way center around.

“We’re lucky to have him,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “He fits in with our group. He displays a work ethic, and (he’s) a true professional day-in, day-out. So (he) can’t help but be positive for our group.”

The buyout surprised Vermette but he focuses on the positives of his time in the desert and not the way it ended.

“I made some good friends,” Vermette said. “I had some good times. We had our share of success. Good memories collectively and personally, also. That’s not going to take it away. Obviously, I would have liked it to be different at the end, but that was absolutely out of my control and you gotta move on.”

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

  • It’s been a busy week for San Jose Sharks defenseman Tim Heed. The 25-year-old was recalled from the AHL Thursday, reassigned to the Barracuda Friday, then brought back to the Sharks on an emergency basis in advance of Saturday’s game against Detroit. Fortunately Heed didn’t have to travel too far as both the Barracuda and Sharks were playing at home this weekend. Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer thought about inserting Heed into the lineup tonight in place of former first-round draft pick Mirco Mueller but ultimately decided against it, according to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. “We think Mirco deserves a chance to play again here, but there’s people knocking on the door for that opportunity too,” DeBoer said, “and Mirco needs to understand that.” DeBoer’s remarks should be taken as a warning to Mueller that he isn’t performing up to expectations. However, Mueller is still just 21-years-old and has only two games of NHL experience this season. Defensemen tend to take longer to develop than forwards so there is still plenty of time to find his way in the league.
  • Nikita Tryamkin, whose development into a reliable blue liner has been a bright spot this season for Vancouver, had trouble cracking the club’s lineup early in the campaign and at one point refused to accept a conditioning assignment to Utica, as the opt-out clause in his contract allowed him to do. Tryamkin believed in himself and knew he was able to contribute at the NHL level and as Jason Botchford writes in a piece for The Province, it’s now clear the Russian defenseman was correct. However, if Vancouver had not relented and had instead kept Tryamkin in the press box, it’s possible the young blue liner would have considered a return home. Fortunately for both parties, injuries on the blue line created an opportunity for Tryamkin and he has taken advantage of it. The 6-foot-7 defender is one of only two Canucks with a plus rating and has added five points in 31 games. One thing that made an impression on Canucks bench boss Willie Desjardins was Tryamkin’s work to get into game shape “You look where he is now, and you have to think he did a great job (of handling it),” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “He wanted to play. He did not want to sit. He was not happy when we didn’t play him. I felt, for him to be his best, he had to change his (fitness) to be ready. It’s not that he ever accepted it, but he worked at it and did it.” 

 

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