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Training Camp Cuts: 10.05.16

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We’re now a week away from the beginning of the NHL regular season. Teams are getting closer to their final rosters, and with that comes more cuts.

Here are the cuts made on October 5, 2016:

Carolina Hurricanes (via General Fanager):
G Michael Leighton (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
D Keegan Lowe (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
C Brody Sutter (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
D Matt Tennyson (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
LW Brendan Woods (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)

Columbus Blue Jackets (via team release):
D Keith Aulie (released from PTO)
D Marc-Andre Bergeron (released from PTO)
RW Mike Brown (released from PTO)
C Jarret Stoll (released from PTO)
RW Daniel Zaar (assigned to Cleveland, AHL)

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Barret Jackman To Retire After 14 Years In NHL

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Tuesday, 1:50pm: According to Lou Kourac of NHL.com, the team will sign Jackman to a one-day contract so he can officially retire as a member of the St. Louis Blues.

Monday: Longtime St. Louis Blues defenseman Barret Jackman is set to retire after 14 seasons in the NHL.

The Blues have scheduled a press conference to announce Jackman’s departure from the game. Jackman played the first 803 games of his career with the Blues before playing 73 games with the Nashville Predators last season. The Predators bought out the final year of Jackman’s two-year, $4MM contract back on June 30. He’ll receive $666K per season for the next two years as a result of that buyout.

Jackman was a dependable stay-at-home defenseman for much of his career. He won the Calder Trophy for rookie-of-the-year in 2002-03, beating out Henrik Zetterberg and Rick Nash.

He finished with 29 goals, 186 points, 1102 PIM, and a +54 rating in 876 career regular season games. In 53 playoff games, Jackman scored twice and had 7 points, but finished with a -18 rating. His deepest playoff run was this past post-season with the Predators, when Nashville lost Game 7 of the second round to San Jose.

Tuesday’s press conference will be posted to the Blues website following the event.

Training Camp Cuts: 10.03.16

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With just over a week towards the start of the NHL regular season, teams are continuing to pare down their rosters.

Here are Monday’s cuts:

Anaheim Ducks (via team release):
LW David Booth (released from PTO)
RW David Jones (released from PTO)
LW Max Jones (to London, OHL)
LW Antoine Laganiere (released from PTO, will report to San Diego, AHL)

Calgary Flames (via NHL.com):
D Ryan Culkin (to Stockton, AHL)
RW Matt Frattin (to Stockton, AHL)
G Jon Gillies (to Stockton, AHL)
D Mikhail Grigorev (released from PTO)
C Mark Jankowski (to Stockton, AHL)
LW Morgan Klimchuk (to Stockton, AHL)
D Oliver Kylington (to Stockton, AHL)
RW Emile Poirier (to Stockton, AHL)
D Colby Robak (released from PTO)

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Training Camp Cuts: 10/1/16

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With the turning of the calendar to October, the regular season is now less than two weeks away.  Accordingly, teams continue to pare down their training camp rosters.  Here are today’s cuts:

(Players denoted with an asterisk will be assigned if they clear waivers on Sunday.)

Buffalo Sabres (Via Team Release)
D Brady Austin (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
RW Justin Bailey (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
D Mac Bennett (released from PTO, will report to AHL camp)
LW William Carrier (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
C Daniel Catenacci* (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
C Eric Cornel (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
C Jean Dupuy (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
D Paul Geiger (released from PTO, will report to AHL camp)
RW Vaclav Karabacek (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
G Jason Kasdorf (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
C Justin Kea (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
LW Matthew Lane (released from PTO, will report to AHL camp)
G John Muse (released from PTO, will report to AHL camp)
LW Daniel Muzito-Begenda (released from PTO, will report to AHL camp)
D Brycen Martin (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
RW Evan Rodrigues (assigned to Rochester, AHL)
LW Cole Schneider* (assigned to Rochester, AHL)

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New York Hockey Notes: Halak, Tavares, Rangers

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The New York Islanders face an interesting choice when deciding who will be between the pipes to start the 2016-17 season. They have three goalies on one-way contracts – Jaroslav Halak, Thomas Greiss and Jean-Francois Berube – though realistically when it comes to the starting job, the choice will be between Halak and Greiss.

Halak had a solid season in 2015-16, winning 18 of his 36 starts and stopping nearly 92% of the shots he faced. The advanced stats crowd holds Halak in particularly high regard due in large part to his ability to limit goals against on high danger shot attempts. Over the last two seasons, Halak has stopped 84.03% of shots against from high danger scoring areas in 5v5 situations. That figure is good for seventh overall in the NHL among goalies who have seen at least 1,500 minutes of 5v5 play. Halak ranks higher than bigger names like Braden Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist.

Greiss was excellent in goal for the Islanders in the postseason with Halak unavailable due to injury. He also ranks among the best goaltenders in preventing goals in high danger situations. His 84.97 HDSv% at 5v5 is the fourth highest over the last two seasons. It’s his strong play last season and the presence of Berube that has led some to postulate the Islanders could look to trade Halak to address other needs.

This issue was addressed by Arthur Staple of Newsday in this reader mailbag. Staple points to Halak’s strong play in the World Cup as the starter for the surprising Europeans and indicates that the Islanders organization is intent on keeping him on board. That means Greiss is likely headed back to the #2 role while Berube is likely to have to wait his turn while suiting up for Bridgeport in the AHL.

Other points of interest in Staple’s mailbag and roster notes on the Islanders Big Apple rivals:

  • Staple takes an early stab at what it will ultimately cost the Islanders to extend captain and face-of-the-franchise John Tavares. He reasons that since Tavares is the “one true star” of the team – unlike in Chicago (Toews/Kane) and Pittsburgh (Crosby/Malkin), he will be able to command a larger piece of the Islander salary cap pie. Staple refers to it as a “blank check situation for him,” and a max length deal in the range of $9.5MM to $10MM annually is where the negotiation will end up. Tavares likely could push for more and certainly the Islanders would prefer a lower number but the team will undoubtedly do whatever necessary to ink their captain to a long-term deal.
  • Answering a query regarding the continued development of defenseman Nick Leddy, Staple feels the 25-year-old blue liner can take the next step and become an “elite” defender. Staple suggests the Islanders will limit Leddy’s ice time by cutting his penalty-killing duties in the hopes he will remain fresher and produce better numbers at five-on-five.
  • Steve Zipay of Newsday projects the Rangers opening night roster and notes the team will have a significant amount of cap space remaining for one of the few times in recent memory. The Blueshirts had just $200K in cap space to open the 2015-16 campaign but assuming Zipay’s projections are close to accurate, the team will have in excess of $3MM with which to play with. Of course having that flexibility would allow the Rangers to add salary at any point during the season, rather than waiting until the trade deadline, should they find a deal to their liking.

 

Latest On Vladimir Sobotka

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Vladimir Sobotka is continuing to try to get out of his KHL contract in the hopes of rejoining St. Louis at some point this season, reports Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  However, a major hurdle to clear at this time appears to be the disappearance of the out clause from his KHL deal.

GM Doug Armstrong noted that Sobotka signed a renegotiated contract at the time of the collapse of the Russian ruble to guarantee him more money.  The new deal did not contain an NHL out clause, something that may not have been communicated to him when he signed it.

For the time being, Sobotka has reported to Avangard Omsk after representing the Czech Republic at the World Cup of Hockey and is skating with the team although he has yet to suit up in a game.

The potential still exists for the 29 year old center to buy his way out of the final year of his contract but doing so would basically mean that he would be playing for free this season.  Sobotka is earning $4MM with Omsk but the team is requesting a two-thirds buyout, meaning that he would have to pay them $2.68MM to get out of the deal.  His NHL salary with the Blues would be $2.725MM (based on an arbitration award from 2014), meaning that he’d effectively be playing for a salary of $45K if he were to return to St. Louis this year.  To put that in perspective, the NHL minimum salary this season is $575K; the AHL minimum is also $45K.

The NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement does not permit the Blues to pay any portion of the buyout while they are also not allowed to renegotiate his current contract to pay him a higher salary to offset the buyout either.  One option that could exist in a few months would be a contract extension as an enticement to leave Omsk midseason.  However, as Sobotka is on a one year deal, the CBA blocks teams and players from signing extensions until January 1st.

In the meantime, the Blues are left with a hole to fill in their roster as they had kept a spot open for Sobotka, who had 33 points in just 61 games in his last NHL season.  They have just shy of $4MM in cap space to work with according to Cap Friendly which gives them some wiggle room although they will need to conserve some of that if they do manage to bring him back later on in the year.

Boston Offers Christian Ehrhoff Professional Tryout

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According to Bob McKenzie via Twitter, the Boston Bruins have offered defenseman Christian Ehrhoff a professional tryout. After an impressive performance with Team Europe, Ehrhoff was given the chance to extend his NHL career with the Bruins. During the World Cup of Hockey, Ehrhoff had three assists in six games.

Last season, Ehrhoff signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Kings but the move never panned out. Instead, he was dealt to Chicago for Rob Scuderi and played sparingly with the Blackhawks. In 40 games with the Kings, he had 10 points (2-8) while with Chicago he had 2 assists in 8 games. He did not appear in any playoff games during the Hawks’ seven game series loss to the Blues.

NBC’s Cam Tucker points out that while Ehrhoff is on the wrong side of 30, and has seen his skill set steadily decline, he has a chance to work in with a “seasoned” group of defenseman that include Zdeno Chara, and John-Michael Liles.

Injury Notes: Janmark & Schwartz

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The Dallas Stars have had a tough off-season, and it just got worse. The team announced that young center Mattias Janmark is expected to miss up to six months as he recovers from knee surgery. It was first reported that Janmark had been seen on crutches and was then scratched from Dallas’ preseason match-up, but the extent of the injury was unknown. As it turns out, it wasn’t so much an injury, but a preexisting condition that has sidelined Janmark. Stars GM Jim Nill announced that Janmark has been diagnosed with Osteochondritis Dissecans, a structural issue in the knee joint that is present at birth. Although the condition is not considered career-threatening, after a promising rookie campaign, it is disappointing to hear that Janmark will be out until March or April at the earliest, and could end up missing his entire sophomore season. With Cody Eakin injured and expected to miss up to two months, and team leaders Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin both recovering from injuries, the Stars have had bad luck lately. Everyone will have to chip in to make up for the losses, as well as work hard to stay healthy, if Dallas wants any chance of repeating as Central Division champs.

One of their main competitors for that title, the St. Louis Blues, are having injury issues of their own. What seemed at first to be a minor upper body injury for young winger Jaden Schwartz, has now been announced as a serious elbow injury that will keep him out of the lineup through the first month of the season at least. Schwartz missed 49 games recovering from an ankle injury last season, and it off to a tough start in 2016-17. The 23-year-old has shown great scoring ability when healthy, but the Blues have to be worried about the durability of a player that they handed a five-year, $26.75MM deal to this summer. With Alex Steen recovering from off-season shoulder surgery and Robby Fabbri dealing with a day-to-day upper body injury of his own, the Blues depth at left wing may face some early challenges this season.

Training Camp Cuts: 9/30/16

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With the last day of September upon us, expect many players to be sent home from NHL camps today, as teams look forward to October and the start of the 2016-17 season. Today is also the first day that waivers applies to any eligible players being sent down. Here is list of players that have been cut so far and where they have been assigned:

Columbus Blue Jackets (Via Team Release)

F Paul Bittner (Cleveland, AHL)
F Ryan Craig (Cleveland, AHL)
F Jordan Maletta (Cleveland, AHL)
D Blake Siebenaler (Cleveland, AHL)
C Alex Broadhurst (waivers -> Cleveland, AHL)
LW Brett Gallant (waivers -> Cleveland, AHL)
D Jaime Sifers (waivers -> Cleveland, AHL)

Minnesota Wild (Via TVA’s Renaud Lavoie)

F Marc Hagel (waivers -> Iowa, AHL)
D Zach Palmquist (waivers -> Iowa, AHL)

Nashville Predators (Via TVA’s Renaud Lavoie)

D Petter Granberg (waivers -> Milwaukee, AHL)
D Matt Irwin (waivers -> Milwaukee, AHL)
LW Mike Liambis (waivers -> Milwaukee, AHL)
F Adam Payerl (waivers -> Milwaukee, AHL)
LW Harry Zolniercyk (waivers -> Milwaukee, AHL)

New York Islanders (Via Newsday’s Arthur Staple)

F Ben Holmstrom (waivers -> Bridgeport, AHL)
F Bracken Kearns (waivers -> Bridgeport, AHL)
D Loic Leduc (Bridgeport, AHL)
F Kyle Schempp (Bridgeport, AHL)
C Carter Verhaeghe (Bridgeport, AHL)
LW Josh Winquist (released from PTO)

Philadelphia Flyers (Via TVA’s Renaud Lavoie)

D T.J. Brennan (waivers -> Lehigh Valley, AHL)
F Greg Carey (waivers -> Lehigh Valley, AHL)
RW Chris Conner (waivers -> Lehigh Valley, AHL)
C Andy Miele (waivers -> Lehigh Valley, AHL)
RW Petr Straka (waivers -> Lehigh Valley, AHL)

St. Louis Blues (Via NHL.com’s Lou Korac)

LW Andrew Agozzino (waivers -> Chicago, AHL)
D Chris Butler (waivers -> Chicago, AHL)
RW Jordan Caron (waivers -> Chicago, AHL)
C Alex Friesen (waivers -> Chicago, AHL)
D Morgan Ellis (waivers -> Chicago, AHL)
D Brad Hunt (waivers -> Chicago, AHL)

Training Camp Cuts: 9/29/16

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There were more training camp cuts today as teams continue to pare down their rosters.  Here is today’s list of players that have been cut so far and where they have been assigned to:

Anaheim Ducks (Via Team Release)
D Josh Mahura (Red Deer, WHL)
RW Deven Sideroff (Kamloops, WHL)
C Tyler Soy (Victoria, WHL)
C Sam Steel (Regina, WHL)

Arizona Coyotes (Via Team Release)
D Brandon Burlon (Tuscon, AHL)
C Mark Olver (Tuscon, AHL)
C Matia Marcantuoni (Tuscon, AHL)

Carolina Hurricanes (Via Team Release)
C Janne Kuokkanen (London, OHL)
C Nicolas Roy (Chicoutimi, QMJHL)

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