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Snapshots: Strome, Abruzzese, McDonough

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Some bad post-Deadline news for Rangers fans strikes, as forward Ryan Strome left today’s game with a lower-body injury and did not return. He’s having another productive season playing alongside Artemi Panarin in the team’s top-six, and that line looked to be bolstered by the addition of Andrew Copp at the deadline. If Strome misses any game action, Copp could be thrust back into a center position for the time being. Strome’s health, especially for the playoffs, is of the utmost importance right now for him and the Rangers.

Some more notes, now from the college world:

  • New addition Nick Abruzzese will join the Toronto Maple Leafs in Boston tomorrow, according to head coach Sheldon Keefe. The Harvard standout signed his entry-level contract with the Leafs yesterday. There’s a solid chance he could slot into the lineup sooner rather than later, and could help bring some more speed and energy to a bottom-six that’s looked lethargic at times with both Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds in the lineup. He’s currently the team’s only extra healthy skater on the roster.
  • The Vancouver Canucks won’t be getting a college boost to their lineup, however. The Vancouver Sun’s Ben Kuzma reports that Northeastern’s Aidan McDonough will likely return to the school for his senior year instead of turning pro with Vancouver. McDonough was incredible this season with 25 goals in 38 games, and the 2019 seventh-round pick is quickly rising up the team’s prospect ranks.

Canucks Recall Will Lockwood, Matthew Highmore Day-To-Day

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  • As expected, the Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled winger Will Lockwood from AHL Abbotsford under emergency conditions (meaning it won’t count against their four allowable regular recalls). He’s needed with Matthew Highmore being listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury that’s not believed to be a concussion.  Lockwood has done well in his second professional season, notching 25 points in 46 games with the Heat.

No Progress In Contract Talks With Brock Boeser

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Prior to the trade deadline, the Canucks hadn’t made any progress on a contract extension with winger Brock Boeser, reports Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston.  It has been a quiet year by the 25-year-old’s standards as he has 19 goals and 19 assists in 60 games, numbers that aren’t bad but aren’t befitting of the $7.5MM salary he’s receiving this season which stands as his qualifying offer in July to retain his rights.  It’s that situation that had Boeser in trade speculation heading into the deadline and will continue to have him in that until a new deal can be reached.  Vancouver can take him to arbitration and offer 90% of the qualifying offer but that’s as low as they can go and it’s something they can only do once with Boeser.

Linus Karlsson Hoping To Sign With Vancouver Canucks

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It was another impressive performance from Linus Karlsson last night, who scored his 25th and 26th goals of the season for Skelleftea AIK, breaking the SHL’s rookie goal-scoring record in the process. The 22-year-old forward could soon follow the footsteps of the player who previously held that record, as he told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV that he hopes to sign with the Vancouver Canucks following the SHL season.

Elias Pettersson was the previous record holder, having scored 24 during the 2017-18 season, his only campaign in the SHL. He followed it up with an incredible ten-goal performance in the playoffs, something Karlsson will have to try to replicate with his powerhouse club. Skelleftea AIK is in first place in the SHL after last night, with just one match to come before the playoffs begin.

Karlsson, 22, was originally drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the third round of the 2018 draft, but was flipped to Vancouver in a trade for Jonathan Dahlen in 2019. Importantly, Karlsson could actually become an unrestricted free agent on June 1 if the team can’t work out an entry-level contract, something that the rest of the league is likely keeping an eye on.

The young forward has dominated at every level as he moves through the Swedish hockey system, and now has 45 points in 51 games as a rookie in the SHL. While he will turn 23 in November, much older than Pettersson was when he was setting the records, he is still an important piece for Canucks’ general manager Patrik Allvin to get under contract, even just to see how he will fare in North America.

Asking Price Too High On Motte Extension

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  • When Tyler Motte was moved at the deadline for a 2023 fourth-round pick, some wondered why the Vancouver Canucks would bother, given how well he has fit into the team’s bottom-six. Motte is a pending free agent and according to Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV, he didn’t want to leave the organization at all but was asking for a contract with an average salary over $2MM. The 27-year-old has seven goals and 15 points in 49 games this season.

New York Rangers Acquire Tyler Motte

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The New York Rangers are acquiring forward Tyler Motte from the Vancouver Canucks, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. The Canucks will receive a 2023 fourth-round selection in return.

Motte, 27, has apparently generated plenty of interest over the past few weeks, which may make Canucks fans a little bit disappointed that the team was only able to secure a fourth-round pick from the Rangers at the deadline. The energy forward has continued to impress ever since the 2020 playoff run that introduced him to the national stage, but with such little offensive output, he falls into the category of many other bottom-six forward additions.

In 49 games this season, Motte has scored seven goals and 15 points, adding another 90 hits to his increasing total. Through 260 NHL games, he’s racked up 628 of those hits, including a whopping 200 during the 2018-19 season, his only full campaign to date. That’s exactly the kind of hockey that Rangers general manager Chris Drury has been trying to play ever since taking over, meaning Motte will fit right into a bottom-six that already includes players like Ryan Reaves (231 hits this season), Dryden Hunt (127), and Barclay Goodrow (102).

The Rangers obviously believe they’re good enough to compete this season, riding a hot goaltender and some potent scoring to battle for a playoff spot earlier than some predicted. They’ve now added Motte, Frank Vatrano, Andrew Copp, and Justin Braun to a group that was already in a playoff position. In each case, the player is a pending UFA, meaning they aren’t locked in past this season, when some of their younger players start to get expensive. Adam fox for instance will jump from an entry-level $925K to a whopping $9.5MM cap hit in 2022-23, while Mika Zibanejad will be earning $8.5MM. There will be time to add in the offseason, but making any deals with term obviously didn’t make sense to them this time around.

AHL Shuffle: 03/21/22

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It’s certainly a busy day in the NHL today with the trade deadline just hours away plus four games on the schedule.  There will be considerable roster movement on the trade front while there will be plenty of paper moves made prior to the 2 PM CT deadline made to give players eligibility to play in the minors down the stretch.  We’ll keep track of those moves here.

Atlantic Division

 

Metropolitan Division

  • The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent winger Radim Zohorna to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. The 25-year-old has three points in a dozen games this season with Pittsburgh while adding 15 points in 31 minor league contests.
  • The Washington Capitals re-assigned forward Brett Leason to the Hershey Bears of the AHL (link). Leason had just been recalled by the Capitals yesterday, but the re-assignment could be to simply keep Leason’s AHL eligibility for the remainder of the season intact.

Central Division

  • The Predators have sent defenseman Jeremy Davies back to Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log. Davies was brought up on Saturday but with Nashville adding Jeremy Lauzon from Seattle late on Sunday, the 25-year-old can head back to the minors.
  • The Dallas Stars have sent goaltender Adam Scheel back to the AHL after acquiring Scott Wedgewood yesterday. Scheel, 22, has up as an emergency backup and never actually saw any NHL action. The young netminder is in his first full season of professional hockey.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have reassigned Ville Heinola, Jeff Malott, and Kristian Reichel have all been reassigned to the minor leagues, making them eligible. Notably, Cole Perfetti is not with this group, suggesting that his time in the minor leagues is over after impressing so far.
  • After making several trades in the past 24 hours, the Arizona Coyotes have recalled two players from the Tuscon Roadrunners of the AHL: forward Michael Carcone and goaltender Josef Korenar. Carcone has played just two games at the NHL level, both coming this season, however he has been a productive AHL player, tallying 24 goals and 17 assists in 48 games with Tuscon this season. Korenar has not played in the NHL yet this season, but did play in 10 games for the San Jose Sharks in 2020-21 and was moved to Arizona this offseason as part of the Adin Hill trade.
  • Having traded goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild, the Chicago Blackhawks have recalled goaltender Collin Delia from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Delia has had a solid season playing for Rockford, but has only appeared in two NHL games thus far in 2021-22.

Pacific Division

  • The Kraken announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Kole Lind from AHL Charlotte. Lind has played in seven games with Seattle this season after being their pick in expansion from Vancouver but has spent most of the year in the minors.  Seattle has also activated winger Joonas Donskoi off injured reserve.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have recalled Brad Malone from the AHL after he played a game with the Bakersfield Condors over the weekend. The 32-year-old is actually the captain of the minor league club, but after converting his contract to an NHL deal has played six games for the Oilers.
  • Jake Leschyshyn and Brayden Pachal are heading back up to the Vegas Golden Knights. Leschyshyn’s seen a lot of NHL opportunities this year, getting into 27 games this year and notching his first five NHL points. Pachal made his NHL debut recently before immediately getting sent back down, but he may get another chance here in some NHL games.
  • The San Jose Sharks announced they have re-assigned goaltender Zach Sawchenko to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. In addition to this, the team recalled forward Sasha Chmelevski and defenseman Ryan Merkley from the Barracuda, and activated Radim Simek off of injured-reserve.
  • After placing Michael Amadio and Zach Whitecloud in COVID protocol and trading away Evgenii Dadonov, the Vegas Golden Knights announced they have called up four players: forwards Paul Cotter and Jonas Rondbjerg and defensemen Daniil Miromanov and Zack Hayes. Of this group, only Hayes does not have any NHL playing experience, spending this season and last in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights, and the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL before that.
  • The Vancouver Canucks also made a flurry of AHL assignments, primarily for the purpose of keeping players’ AHL ability alive. The organization announced it assigned forwards Sheldon Rempal, Vasily Podkolzin, and Nic Petan, as well as defenseman Noah Juulsen to the Abbotsford Canucks. Podkolzin and Petan were immediately recalled back to Vancouver.
  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have recalled forward Danny O’Regan from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. O’Regan, 28, has played parts of four seasons dating back to 2016-17, including four games this season with Anaheim.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Vancouver Canucks Acquire Travis Dermott

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In order for the Toronto Maple Leafs to figure out the salary cap gymnastics of their acquisition of Mark Giordano and Colin Blackwell, they have opened up some space and honored a trade request by sending young defenseman Travis Dermott to the Vancouver Canucks. TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the deal, with colleague Pierre LeBrun adding that the return is a 2022 third-round pick, a pick originally belonging to the Winnipeg Jets. Both clubs have confirmed the deal.

After trading Travis Hamonic earlier today for a third-round pick, the Canucks essentially made a Travis-for-Travis swap after receiving and sending similar draft selections. However, it is difficult to call that anything but a win for Vancouver. Dermott, 25, is much younger and at this point in his career a more dynamic player than Hamonic and likely has his best days ahead of him. Yet, he also costs half as much at $1.5MM through next season compared to Hamonic’s $3MM, something highly valuable to the cap-strapped Canucks. Vancouver will also maintain control of Dermott after the 2022-23 season, as he will be a restricted free agent.

Dermott requested a trade out of Toronto seeking greater opportunity and he will find that in Vancouver. The Canucks’ defense corps is led by young Quinn Hughes and includes veterans Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Tyler Myers, but Dermott could wind up as the final piece of the top four. Tucker Poolman and Luke Schenn are both signed through at least next season while Jack Rathbone and others could make a push from the AHL, but this is less stiff competition than what Dermott faced with the Leafs. A player who flashed greater ability earlier in his career than he has in recent years, Dermott could find his way back to the player he was expected to be, which would make this an excellent deal for the Canucks.

Ottawa Senators Acquire Travis Hamonic

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The Vancouver Canucks have made a move with cap savings in mind, trading veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic to the Ottawa Senators. The Canucks will receive a third-round pick in exchange, one that actually originally belonged to them. It’s the same pick that was sent to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Nate Schmidt in 2020, and then sent to Ottawa in last summer’s Evgenii Dadonov deal. No salary will be retained.

Hamonic, 31, is signed through next season and carries a $3MM cap hit, a number that certainly hasn’t been very valuable to the Canucks. After dealing with some early-season vaccination and quarantining issues that routinely kept him out of the lineup, Hamonic has played in just 24 games for Vancouver this season. While he has averaged over 18 minutes in those appearances, he has just three goals and seven points.

From the Senators perspective, this was a chance to add a stable, veteran presence to a lineup that is hoping to turn the corner and contend for the playoffs next season. Ottawa has no problem taking on a cap hit like that, especially when there’s still a real chance that Hamonic can live up to it if given the opportunity. A true stay-at-home defenseman, there was a time not too long ago when Hamonic could be relied on to completely erase an opponent’s best players, forcing them to play extremely low-event hockey. That time does seem to have passed, at least somewhat, though perhaps with a new team and new opportunity, he can return to being that true top-four right-handed shutdown defenseman that is so coveted.

Getting a third-round pick out of the deal is a huge bonus for the Canucks, who could have just as easily lost Hamonic before the season began for nothing when he was placed on and cleared waivers. There were some extenuating circumstances at that point, but just ridding the cap hit for next year should be considered a win for a team that will need all the wiggle room they can get.

The new management group led by Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin have been clear about wanting to clear some money off the books, and they’re now $3MM lighter for the 2022-23 season. They’ve also added a nice draft pick, though it was actually once already theirs.

Darren Dreger of TSN was first to report the trade. 

Canucks Could Look To Acquire Travis Dermott

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  • Friedman also Tweets that he believes the Vancouver Canucks are a team that is considering Travis Dermott at the deadline. Dermott has been the subject of trade rumors well before this year’s trade deadline, and those rumors have only heated up since, and it is believed he will be traded by the deadline regardless. Vancouver has been looking to acquire a defenseman with term, and Dermott is signed through 2022-23 at just a $1.5MM cap hit.

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