Man On Wire: Checking In On The Waiver Claims
In the new NHL where trades between cap-strapped clubs are so difficult, many teams look to the waiver wire to make small but potentially valuable additions to their club. That bottom pairing defenseman or fourth line center you just can’t seem to find may be available when another team has a roster crunch due to injury or poor play.
Since October 8th when teams made their final cuts before the season opener, there have been 26 players claimed on waivers. Many of these are duplicates as teams claim, then waive a player hoping to slip him through and down into the minors. Here we’ll check in on how they’ve done with their new clubs.
Martin Frk:
CAR from DET – 2 GP, 0 G, 0 A (returned to Detroit and sent to minors)
Mike Condon:
PIT from MTL – 1 GP, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV% (traded to Ottawa for a 5th round pick)
Seth Griffith:
TOR from BOS – 3 GP, 0 G, 0 A
FLA from TOR – 21 GP, 0 G, 5 A (returned to Toronto and sent to minors)
Maple Leafs Notes: Rielly, Marchenko, Maturity
Morgan Rielly gave Toronto Maple Leafs fans a scare today as he was absent for practice, but it shouldn’t be too concerning. Head coach Mike Babcock told reporters including David Alter of The Athletic afterwards that Rielly will be skating tomorrow and that it was just a maintenance day coming off injury. Rielly missed a few games for the Leafs with a knee injury recently, and looked a bit tentative in last night’s win against the Boston Bruins. The Maple Leafs will need him if they’re to make it back to the playoffs for the first time since the lockout-shortened season.
- Alexey Marchenko hit the ice for the first time with his new team today, skating as the extra defenseman at practice. While Mike Babcock admitted to Alter that Marchenko won’t play Monday versus the New York Islanders, the coach will be getting him into the lineup sooner or later. We looked at what the acquisition of Marchenko means for Roman Polak and the other right-handed defenseman yesterday, but it doesn’t look like it will happen right away in Toronto. Polak remained firmly in the third pairing role alongside Matt Hunwick, who will likely figure back into the lineup after Martin Marincin took three minor penalties against Boston.
- Frank Corrado has indeed been sent to the minors where he will assume big minutes on the Toronto Marlies. With Rinat Valiev out with a lower-body injury, expect Corrado to join the top pairing and have something of a showcase as we get closer to the trade deadline.
- In winning the see-saw battle last night against the Bruins, and with it slaying any lingering demons from the Maple Leafs collapse in game 7 of their last playoff appearance, Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com considers this group well ahead of schedule. In her latest column, she writes that the team is maturing much faster than was expected and should be considered a completely different entity than the lackluster teams of the last decade (or longer, depending on who you ask).
PHR Originals: 01/30/2017 – 02/05/2017
As we get closer to the NHL trade deadline, PHR has been pumping out the original pieces. Here is a look at the past week:
- The Trade Candidate pieces came fast and furious this week, with our staff taking a closer look at the cases for: Jannik Hansen (link), Cody Franson (link), Shane Doan (link), Teddy Purcell (link), Ben Bishop (link), Jimmy Howard (link), Michael Del Zotto (link), Jaroslav Halak (link), and Curtis Lazar (link).
- Yesterday Zach Leach took a look at the expansion draft and the problems it is giving teams on the back end and in net. Calgary, Carolina and Philadelphia were specifically analyzed for some issues they will face. Stay tuned for part two this week.
- I hosted our very first live chat on Thursday, and the questions came in bunches. The Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks seemed especially intriguing, as the two teams seem to match up on paper for a deal.
- Brian La Rose took questions in his weekly mailbag feature, including addressing some concerns about Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill.
- Brian also completed the first round of his 2005 re-draft series. Amazingly, Steve Downie was the consensus 30th pick. It goes to show how first-round picks aren’t a lock, as Downie only scored 196 points in his 434 career games.
- Late Wednesday night I took a look at some smaller deals that paid off at last year’s trade deadline, and the value you can find in the margins of an NHL roster. It’s not always the blockbuster that makes the biggest impact, just ask the Pittsburgh Penguins.
- Glen Miller wrote about how Alexander Burmistrov is filling a much-needed role at center in Arizona. The former top pick was selected off waivers early last month.
- And finally, just today I examined Peter Budaj‘s renaissance and the other players around the league who have made a huge comeback this season.
Robby Fabbri Out For Entire Season With ACL Injury
After reporting that Robby Fabbri left last night’s game with an apparent leg injury, the St. Louis Blues have announced today that he will miss the rest of the season with an injured ACL in his left knee. The team has recalled Magnus Paajarvi and Kenny Agostino from the Chicago Wolves in a corresponding move.
Fabbri took a check from the Penguins’ Carter Rowney in the first period, slamming into the boards just in front of the Blues’ bench. He needed assistance to get off the ice and was in obvious pain, as he was heard yelling on the broadcast.
As we wrote yesterday, losing Fabbri is a big hit for St. Louis, who were trying to turn around their early season struggles. They would lose 4-1 to the Penguins last night, unable to build on their big win against the Maple Leafs on Thursday. For a team sitting at 55 points and just barely out of a playoff spot, losing a top forward can completely change the complexion of a season.
Already expected to deal expiring contracts in Kevin Shattenkirk and Patrik Berglund, it will be interesting to see how another injury like this one will affect the way the team views the trade deadline. Other players like David Perron, Paul Stastny or even Alex Steen would be attractive pieces to many teams if the Blues could make the salaries work (which will be difficult, as all three come with significant cap-hits).
The Blues were expected to be a contender for the Stanley Cup once again but are having a nightmarish season. Between Jake Allen‘s struggles, nagging injuries, the Ken Hitchcock circus and now the end to Fabbri’s year, the team may want to put this year in their rear-view mirror.
Minor Transactions: 02/05/17
On what is sure to be a slow Super Bowl Sunday, we’ll keep all the minor news right here:
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have returned Markus Hannikainen to the Cleveland Monsters just a day after bringing him up. The 23-year old winger was an emergency recall and got into the game last night against the New Jersey Devils. He’s played in seven contests for the Jackets this year as he bounces up and down between leagues, scoring one goal.
- Bob McKenzie of TSN reports that Frank Corrado has cleared waivers for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and will be assigned to the AHL Marlies. We wrote yesterday about how the Alexey Marchenko claiming impacted the right-hand depth of the Maple Leafs, of which Corrado was a part.
- McKenzie also tells us that Nashville has placed Derek Grant on waivers, likely due to the acquisition of Vernon Fiddler yesterday. Grant has played just six games for Nashville since being selected off waivers from the Buffalo Sabres less than a month ago.
- The Devils have sent Karl Stollery to Albany for the time being, after bringing him up just a week ago. The defenseman has bounced up and down all season long, playing nine games for the big-league Devils so far.
- Per the AHL Transactions page, the Sharks assigned forwards Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc as well as defenseman Tim Heed to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. It’s highly likely that all three will be recalled in advance of their next game on Tuesday; San Jose has routinely been shuffling them back and forth between the NHL and the minors in an effort to save a bit of cap space.
- Also via the AHL Transactions page, Nashville has swapped backup goalies once again, recalling Jusse Saros and assigning Marek Mazanec to AHL Milwaukee. Saros had been sent down to get in a game with the Admirals on Saturday night as he last saw NHL action back on January 24th.
- Following their game against Montreal, the Oilers announced (Twitter link) they have assigned defensemen Jordan Oesterle and Griffin Reinhart, as well as center Anton Lander, to Bakersfield (AHL). Oesterle made his season debut on Sunday while Lander saw his first NHL action in over three weeks; Reinhart was a healthy scratch.
Robby Fabbri Suffers Lower-Body Injury
With the St. Louis Blues trying to build on their 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, they have lost a key forward. Robby Fabbri suffered an injury on a hit from Carter Rowney against the Penguins tonight and will not return. He left the ice in considerable pain, and needed assistance from the training staff.
Fabbri let out some cries of agony you could even hear on the broadcast, as he put no weight on his left leg. This is not the same leg that he injured two years ago at the World Juniors, when he suffered a high ankle sprain in his right leg.
For the Blues, losing another forward will test their depth even more. The team already watched David Backes and Troy Brouwer leave in free agency, and have struggled through the first 50 games. Finding themselves just a few points out of a playoff spot, some wonder whether they will go ahead and deal upcoming free agents Kevin Shattenkirk and Patrik Berglund or hold on and try to make another run with the newly promoted head coach Mike Yeo.
Fabbri has taken another step forward this season after an exceptional rookie season that saw him score 18 goals. He has 29 points in 50 games this year and has been logging close to 16 minutes a night as he builds the trust of the coaching staff. If the injury is as bad as it looked, it will be interesting to see who the Blues move up the lineup. Perhaps Nail Yakupov, the former first-overall pick the Blues acquired earlier this year will get another chance to show he’s deserved of an increased role on this team.
What Alexey Marchenko Means For Roman Polak
On Saturday morning, it was announced that the Toronto Maple Leafs had claimed Alexey Marchenko from the Detroit Red Wings. While that headline isn’t the blockbuster we’ve been waiting for, it does have some impact on a team that is still deciding what to do at the quickly approaching deadline.
The Maple Leafs placed the much discussed Frank Corrado on waivers in a corresponding move, possibly ending the defenseman’s tenure in Toronto. Corrado hasn’t played much this year, getting into just two games with the NHL club and seven on an AHL conditioning stint. Clearly in head coach Mike Babcock’s doghouse since he came to Toronto, the team has been looking for a right-handed upgrade for a long time.
Marchenko has ties to Babcock from his days in Detroit, though not many. The 25-year old got into just 14 games while Babcock was coaching. It is that familiarity though that has some people saying that he’ll jump into the lineup (at least on a part-time basis) instead of Roman Polak. James Mirtle of the Athletic was on TSN 1050 today and related his thoughts on the matter.
He’s going to play him. The fact that he’s going to play another right defenseman means Roman Polak is going to be sitting out games, and they can look to trade him at some point.
Maybe they play Polak until the deadline, and then they move him…and now they’ve got Marchenko that can slide into those minutes.
The idea that Polak would be moved out of Toronto for the second time in two years is a persistent one in Toronto, as he continues to struggle when paired with Matt Hunwick in all situations other than the penalty kill. While he brought back a pair of second-round picks (when combined with Nick Spaling) last season, it would be surprising to see the Leafs receive anything like that this time around. Polak doess bring a physical presence and the experience of a long Stanley Cup run last season with San Jose, still valued attributes around the league.
For the Maple Leafs, it’s not clear whether they would want to add, sell or just stay the course with a team that is unexpectedly vying for a playoff spot this season. The plan has always been to build slow through the draft, but with the Atlantic Division wide open they have a chance at a playoff seed as soon as this year. Keeping Polak for their push might be beneficial in the long run; this team will be extremely inexperienced if they do make it, as even their veterans haven’t seen more than a handful of playoff games.
We’ll see soon enough how Mike Babcock is leaning, as the Maple Leafs don’t have a second to breathe. After tonight in Boston, they have four more games in seven days including rematches against the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues, both clubs that destroyed them this week. If Marchenko gets into the lineup for Polak right away, start looking around to see where he might fit around the league. Lou Lamoriello is known for getting his work done a little early, and the Leafs may pull the trigger quicker than you expect.
Trade Candidates: Cody Franson
If the summer of 2015 taught hockey fans anything, it was that there is no league-wide consensus about Cody Franson. The defenseman was expected to be one of the top blue liners on the market, but instead of jumping on a big offer early in free agency, his negotiations dragged on into September before he finally agreed to a deal with the Buffalo Sabres.
Two years later, Franson’s production has fallen off at both ends of the ice and his value is even more unpredictable. In need of a change of scenery, Franson is not re-signing with Buffalo this summer, so if the Sabres’ playoff hopes continue slip out of reach, they should be more than willing to move the big defenseman.
Contract
Franson is in the final year of a two-year, $6.65MM deal and will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. At the trade deadline, Franson’s $3.325MM cap hit will be down to just over $1MM.
2016-17
Franson’s time in Buffalo has not gone according to plan. Reports in the summer of 2015 were that Franson was weighing offers between affordable, short-term deals with contenders or more money and more term from rebuilding teams. What he ended up with was a short-term deal, likely for the most money on the table though, with a rebuild. The lack of talent around him in Buffalo has certainly stifled Franson’s output, but most of the blame lies with him and not making the most of his situation. The 2015-16 season was the worst of Franson’s career. Although injuries limited him to just 59 games, Franson still scored less than half of the 36 points he had registered in 78 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators the year before. He also saw a massive drop-off in his defensive stats like hits and blocks. Buffalo fans were hoping for a rebound year when Franson returned to full health in 2016-17, but so far it has not come. Franson is on pace for just 25 points, which would be the lowest full-season total of his career. It would even be less than the 29 points he scored in 45 games in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. He’s also way off pace from matching the dominant defensive numbers he put up in Toronto. Add in that these shortcoming are also going along with almost 19 minutes of ice time per game, the third highest average of his career, and clearly something is off with Franson.
Season Stats
47 games: 3 goals, 12 assists, 15 points, -1, 62 hits, 43 blocks, 18:46 ATOI
Potential Suitors
The first team that should jump out as a prime candidate is the Toronto Maple Leafs. A return to Toronto, where Franson had the best years of his career, could be exactly what he needs. When the Leafs dealt him away at the 2015 trade deadline, they were in full rebuild mode. However, they’ve turned it around faster than anyone could have imagined and are now looking for affordable help in trying to reach the playoffs. At a bargain price, Franson would be great value for Toronto as a player comfortable with the city and with several former teammates. Even in the midst of a down year, Franson would present an upgrade over any of Matt Hunwick, Roman Polak, Connor Carrick or the recently-claimed Alexey Marchenko.
The Los Angeles Kings are another club that could really use Franson’s services. The team has had to make due with the likes of Kevin Gravel and the recently-waived Tom Gilbert all season long on their bottom pair, but they are not a lock to make the playoffs and an upgrade on defense would go along way. As of now, Drew Doughty is the only right-handed defenseman on the roster. The Kings would gladly take Franson to add some depth and balance on the back end.
Other contenders that could be interested in Franson for the right price and purely as some added depth include Eastern Conference powerhouses like the Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Rangers, but they might have to match the offers of teams in more dire need. The Sabres’ playoff chances are slim at this point, and they won’t be afraid to trade Franson to the division-rival Maple Leafs if that is who makes the best offer.
Likelihood Of A Trade
If a market develops, which it likely will, Franson will almost definitely be moved. He has been a disappointment with the Sabres and a rebuilding team will take any help they can get by moving out veterans with expiring contracts. It’s possible that Franson’s struggles will cause teams to shy away from acquiring him, but at just 29-years-old and with very good numbers in his past, the big blue liner has potential. Buffalo will not ask for much, but some team will pay to bring in what amounts to a very good depth defenseman for the stretch run. Still capable of solid two-way play with offensive upside in the right system, Franson is more valuable than his numbers indicate.
Maple Leafs Claim Alexey Marchenko From Red Wings
According to Chris Johnston’s tweet, the Toronto Maple Leafs have claimed Alexey Marchenko off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit placed him on waivers yesterday due to a roster crunch with the return of defenseman Brendan Smith from injury. Johnston also tweets that the Leafs waived Frank Corrado after picking up Marchenko. According to Cap Friendly, Corrado is given Non-Roster status until he is claimed or passes through waivers.
Marchenko played 30 games this season for the Wings, but fell out of favor after the emergence of Nick Jensen. Marchenko who suffered an injury, never found his way back into the lineup and had been a healthy scratch. In 30 games, Marchenko had six assists with as many points. He is also a +6.
The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James reported that Red Wings general manager Ken Holland indicated someone had to go with Smith and Jimmy Howard returning soon. Corrado, meanwhile, had been cemented in Mike Babcock’s doghouse, playing only two games this season. His release does not come as a surprise. James Mirtle tweets that the acquisition of Marchenko is an upgrade for the Maple Leafs at only 25 years old. Babcock is also familiar with Marchenko from his days in Detroit.
Atlantic Notes: Lightning Woes, Maple Leafs, Viola
The Tampa Bay are in unfamiliar territory writes the Tampa Times’ Joe Smith. Sitting in the basement of the Eastern Conference, the Lightning have lost six of their last seven games and are sorting out exactly what is wrong. Veteran Brian Boyle says that it’s driving everyone “crazy” on the team, while Smith writes that the Bolts are playing like a team without confidence. Keep in mind, this is the 2014-15 Stanley Cup runner up and a squad that came within a game of returning to the Stanley Cup Final last season. Lauded for his ability to keep the roster together, Smith adds that general manager Steve Yzerman will not make a panic trade to turn the team’s fortunes. But Smith believes a change is necessary somewhere.
- Mike Babcock only wants to look ahead, and not dwell on the Maple Leafs’ recent struggles writes The Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan. The Leafs slipped out of the playoff hunt by three points in both the division and the Wild Card race, but Babcock believes it’s a moment of accountability for each of the players. Koshan writes that Auston Matthews has just one point in his last seven games, while Frederik Andersen‘s struggles haven’t helped the team’s fortunes at all. After posting back-to-back shutouts last week, Andersen gave up three against Dallas and five in St. Louis. Andersen “owns” his struggles, Koshan reports, and the veteran netminder knows he has to be better–along with the rest of the team.
- Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola has declined President Donald Trump’s offer to be secretary of the Army reports the Sun-Sentinel’s Harvey Fialkov. In a statement, Viola said the following:
“I am deeply honored to have been considered for this post, and appreciate the confidence President Trump showed in me,” Viola said in the statement. “I offer my continued support for President Trump and his administration, and look forward to re-doubling my efforts to support the Army and its veterans as a private citizen.”
Fialkov adds that Viola was struggling to separate himself from his business affiliations. Minority owner Doug Cifu would have taken over had Viola chosen to accept the post.