Minor Transactions: 12/29/17
After another wild night in the NHL that saw the Vegas Golden Knights defeat their division rival Los Angeles Kings to secure top spot in the Pacific and second in the entire league, you can be sure there will be some roster movement. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves throughout the day right here. Make sure to refresh regularly.
- Gabriel Carlsson has been sent back to the minor leagues by the Columbus Blue Jackets, which could signal a return for Zach Werenski. Werenski had been skating as part of the scratch pair for a few days alongside Dean Kukan, who is the other option to enter the lineup in Carlsson’s absence. The Blue Jackets take on the struggling Ottawa Senators tonight.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Calvin Pickard from the minor leagues, announcing that Curtis McElhinney has a lower-body injury. McElhinney was the backup last night when the Maple Leafs took on the Arizona Coyotes and didn’t enter the game, but was expected to start in the second half of a back-to-back against the Colorado Avalanche tonight. Instead, it seems likely that Pickard will make his Maple Leafs debut against his old team.
- After recording an assist in his return to action for the the Iowa Wild last night, Zach Parise has been recalled by the Minnesota Wild. His conditioning stint was not expected to be very long, but he remains on long-term injured reserve as he continues to work his way back. It’s not clear when he’ll be activated by the Wild, but it was a good step towards recovery yesterday for the veteran forward.
- With Lee Stempniak not ready to go for the Carolina Hurricanes, the team has recalled Lucas Wallmark from the minor leagues. Wallmark played eight games for the club last season, but hasn’t yet suited up this year. In 20 AHL contests, Wallmark has 23 points and continues to prove that he can nearly score at will in the minor leagues.
- Dalton Prout, having cleared waivers, has been assigned to the minor leagues by the New Jersey Devils. Prout could be called back up in case of injury, but for now will need to ply his trade in the minor leagues.
- With Martin Hanzal dealing with a minor injury, the Dallas Stars have recalled Jason Dickinson from the AHL. Dickinson, 22, has played five games for the Stars this season but is still looking for his first point.
- Washington has once again sent Madison Bowey and Jakub Vrana to the minor leagues, but it is likely just a paper transaction. Both players have full-time roles with the Capitals, and are only sent down on off days as a cap saving measure.
2017 Year In Review: May
2017 has been quite a busy year in the hockey world. There have been several big trades, the first expansion team in over 15 years, and much more. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at May.
Playoff Injuries Abound: As teams continued their chase of the Stanley Cup, their bodies began to break down. As each subsequent round was completed, and teams were eliminated from the playoffs, reports of surgery and rehab surfaced daily. Players like Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask, Jason Zucker, Andrej Sekera and Ryan Johansen all went under the knife in May, with the Anaheim Ducks perhaps announcing the worst of the bunch. Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen would both require shoulder surgery, not only putting the start of their 2017-18 seasons in jeopardy but complicating the expansion process for the Ducks. A seemingly inevitable Vatanen trade was put on hold until just recently, when he was sent to the New Jersey Devils for Adam Henrique.
Toronto Bolsters Blueline: The Toronto Maple Leafs had some depth issues on their blueline in 2016-17, when Morgan Rielly was forced to log big minutes despite suffering from a high-ankle sprain for much of the season. They decided to add to that depth when they signed both Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman out of the SHL, and locked up a key newcomer long-term. Nikita Zaitsev officially signed his seven-year, $31.5MM extension on May 2nd, ensuring he’d be part of the core for some time.
Big Ben In Big D: The Dallas Stars, coming off an extremely disappointing season, decided that something had to be done about their goaltending duo of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. The Stars went out and traded for Ben Bishop, almost immediately signing him to a six-year, $29.5MM contract. Because Bishop was set to become an unrestricted free agent and was coming off one of his worst seasons in the NHL, he cost the Stars just a fourth-round pick. An improvement in Bishop’s play was one of the keys we identified recently for a potential Stars turnaround, after which he immediately posted a 24-save shutout against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Buffalo Gets Botterill: After canning their coach and GM the previous month, the Buffalo Sabres announced that Jason Botterill, formerly an assistant GM with the Pittsburgh Penguins, would be the new man to captain their ship. Botterill had some interim GM experience with Pittsburgh, but had never truly been the head man before and had a tough task ahead of him in Buffalo. The Sabres are once again one of the worst teams in the NHL, but have their star locked up long-term and several blue chip prospects on their way.
Vadim, Las Vegas: On May 4th, 2017 the Vadim Shipachyov era in Vegas officially began when the team announced a two-year, $9MM contract for the Russian star. Shipachyov was just the second player to sign with the Golden Knights, and was immediately penciled into their first line. Unfortunately, the rest of 2017 would not go as smoothly. Shipachyov was first left off the NHL roster to begin the season, and would eventually terminate his contract with Vegas in order to return to the KHL. He scored one goal during his brief NHL career, and has spoken quite candidly about the disappointing situation.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Vegas Nearly Took Malcolm Subban In Expansion
- Vegas GM George McPhee acknowledged to Gary Lawless on the Golden Knights’ team site that they nearly opted to select goaltender Malcolm Subban over defenseman Colin Miller from the Bruins back at the Expansion Draft. They opted to go with the latter with the thought that they could subsequently trade for Subban. That didn’t happen as planned but they wound up with both anyway after the Bruins waived the netminder after training camp. It has all worked out quite well for Vegas as Subban has proven to be a solid backup while Miller is their highest-scoring defender with 19 points already, a new career-high.
What Should Vegas Do With James Neal?
The Vegas Golden Knights had it all figured out. The plan from Day One was to build the team through the draft with a goal of reaching the playoffs in three years and winning a Stanley Cup in five. Evidently, the team did their math wrong. They won’t stop winning now in Year One.
However, despite the team’s success, they have done exactly as they’ve planned. The Golden Knights built their 2017 NHL draft based on multiple trades that came with the expansion draft as they picked up an extra two first-round picks in draft-day deals. They also added an extra second rounder as well as extra fifth and sixth round picks. That totaled 12 picks in that draft, or 13, if you add seventh-round pick Dylan Ferguson, who the team picked up in a trade after the draft.
The draft pick collecting didn’t stop just with the 2017 draft, however. They picked up quite a few for the 2019 NHL draft as well as they have seven picks in the first three rounds in that draft and 12 picks total. Even in 2020, the Golden Knights have four picks in the first two rounds. However, the one draft that Vegas hasn’t targeted is this upcoming draft, the 2018 NHL Draft. It’s obvious, the team’s plan was to accumulate picks at the trade deadline this year. The team has several top players in the last year of their deals that could be sold off for assets, players like James Neal, David Perron, Luca Sbisa and possibly even Jon Marchessault. That has always been the plan, until now.
The team had been winning quite a bit early on, but the team’s recent 8-0-1 run may have changed the outlook of many. Now at the holiday break, Vegas finds itself with a 23-9-2 record, good enough for a three-way tie for first place in the Western Conference. This team is for real, having pulled off victories in just the last week over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. Just a few days ago, NHL.com’s Gary Lawless said that he doesn’t expect Vegas to break up their team at the deadline.
But what do you do with Neal? While Marc-Andre Fleury has been the face of the franchise, it’s Neal that has endeared himself to Vegas fans. The winger has 17 goals, which leads the team and fans would love to have him stay with the franchise. However, he will be 31 years old at the start of the season next year. This will be Neal’s last opportunity to cash in on a big contract, which he truly deserves. However, do you give a 31-year-old player a long-term contract? An six-year deal? Eight years? At what cost? Or do they just let him walk away next season and start all over again.
Perron and Sbisa are probably easy enough to let walk away at the end of the season. While they both have played extremely well this year, the team could probably find replacements at their positions quickly enough. Don’t forget they have two young first-round picks who are dominating their junior league in Cody Glass and Nick Suzuki and another first-rounder in Erik Brannstrom in Sweden waiting to come over. Even Marchessault’s situation is easier to predict as he’ll just be 27 next year. A long-term deal might not look too bad at his age. No matter how many years they sign him for, after two years he’d be 33 years old in a league that caters to young players and have started separating themselves from older ones. Is that what you want on a young expansion team? So, what should Vegas do with Neal?
Snapshots: Tavares, Vegas, Gudbranson
The New York Islanders announced their plan for a brand new arena at the Belmont Park location today, and front and center at the ceremony was none other than John Tavares. The team captain spoke very highly of the decision, something he’s supported since the beginning.
For us as players and our fan base to have somewhere you know it’s written in stone that we’re going to have a home built for the Islanders on Long Island is pretty special.
The Islanders are called the Islanders for a reason. This is really where the team belongs.
Still, Tavares isn’t willing to announce that he’s re-signing with the team now that it has a long-term future ahead of it. In speaking with Arthur Staple of Newsday at the event, he calmly said that while a positive outcome, it’s not “going to change or ultimately make my decision.”
- The Vegas Golden Knights are in an extremely interesting position as they continue their inaugural season, and one that GM George McPhee likely didn’t expect when he selected a team heavy on pending free agents. Though they’re one of the top teams in the league, they might still have to decide whether the long-term future of the club is more important as they head towards the trade deadline, something Gary Lawless of NHL.com discussed in an informal Q&A on Twitter. Lawless explained that though they obviously have assets that could be valuable at the deadline, he doesn’t expect management to break up the core while they’re experiencing so much success, instead pointing at the cap space that Vegas possesses as potential bait. That’s something we’ve discussed about at length in the past, and an obvious avenue for the Golden Knights to add to the future while maintaining the present.
- In Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, he speaks about several players who might need a fresh start as we head toward the trade deadline. One of those, Erik Gudbranson, has been rumored available in the past and Friedman believes that he’ll price himself out of the Vancouver Canucks market when he hits free agency after this season. Though Gudbranson certainly doesn’t make the impact that some hoped he would when he went third-overall to the Florida Panthers, he can still be a helpful player for a team with defensive depth issues. The fact that he only makes $3.5MM will make him an affordable piece at the deadline, if a team believes they can get good shutdown minutes from him down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Minor Transactions: 12/20/17
Despite the NHL being in their holiday roster freeze, there are still minor moves that can be made. As we’ve discussed before, players can still be recalled from the minor leagues during this time, and those who were recalled after December 11th can still be loaned to the AHL until 11:59pm eastern on December 23rd. Thus, the league is not completely frozen and we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Gabriel Carlsson from the AHL, due to an injury to Zach Werenski that will keep him out of the lineup tonight against Toronto. Carlsson played 10 games with the Blue Jackets earlier this season, and is another highly touted defenseman in their system. Though he has quite a few excellent players ahead of him, expect Carlsson to make an impact on the Blue Jackets before long.
- The Vancouver Canucks have assigned Michael Chaput to the minor leagues, meaning either the move technically went through last night or Chaput had been up previously on emergency conditions. He’d previously been called up on December 6th, and played in three games with the club.
- The Los Angeles Kings have recalled Kevin Gravel from the AHL, bringing the hulking defenseman up for the first time this year. Gravel played 49 games with the NHL club last season, but has been toiling in the minor leagues all year, scoring nine points in 24 games. With Christian Folin headed to injured reserve yesterday, the Kings needed a seventh defenseman for the time being.
- Tomas Hyka has been sent back to the minor leagues by the Vegas Golden Knights, after sitting out last night’s match against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hyka still hasn’t made his NHL debut after signing out of Europe in the summer, but has 12 points in 16 games for the Chicago Wolves.
- Joseph Blandisi has been sent to the minor leagues by the Anaheim Ducks, something Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register suspected yesterday. Blandisi has dealt with injury since coming over from the Devils in the Adam Henrique–Sami Vatanen trade, and only played in three games with the Ducks.
- Shane Prince is back with the New York Islanders after a lengthy conditioning stint, where he registered two points in four AHL contests. Prince spent ten days in the minor leagues with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but is ready to return and contribute for the surging Islanders.
Minor Transactions: 12/19/17
The NHL will activate a roster freeze tonight at 11:59pm eastern, effectively shutting down the trade market for a little over a week. While today may bring some movement in terms of trade, more likely small changes will be made to rosters to ensure the team is ready for the next few games. Players can be called up during the freeze, but not waived or loaned.
- Last night, the Vegas Golden Knights recalled Tomas Hyka from the minor leagues and placed Luca Sbisa back on injured reserve. Hyka, 24, was signed this summer by the Golden Knights as one of the very first players in franchise history. This will be the first time he’s up in the NHL, after showing an offensive capability at the minor league level. With 12 points in 16 games for the Chicago Wolves, Hyka is off to a great start in North American professional hockey.
- With Sonny Milano returning for the Columbus Blue Jackets last night, the team has sent Tyler Motte back to the minor leagues. The 22-year old Motte had four points in 19 games with the Blue Jackets, but will have to wait for his next opportunity.
- After acquiring Josh Archibald from the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Arizona Coyotes have sent Dylan Strome back to the minor leagues. The 20-year old Strome has just one point in 11 games with the Coyotes this season, but has dominated the AHL level with 26 in 15 games.
- The San Jose Sharks have assigned Danny O’Regan and Marcus Sorensen to the AHL, while recalling Joakim Ryan. Remember, that the team can still recall players during the freeze.
William Carrier Skating With Non-Contact Jersey, Getting Closer To Returning
- Golden Knights winger William Carrier has resumed practicing, albeit with a non-contact jersey, notes Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 22-year-old has been out of the lineup since sustaining an upper-body injury back on November 25th. Head coach Gerard Gallant wouldn’t commit to a timeline for when Carrier might be given the green light to return to the lineup.
Team Canada’s First Cuts Include Cody Glass
TSN’s Bob McKenzie tweets that Vegas Golden Knights center Cody Glass has been cut from Canada’s World Junior team, along with Detroit Red Wings prospect Dennis Cholowski and Vancouver’s Kole Lind. Glass’ departure is somewhat of a surprise, if social media reactions are any indication. While they weren’t the only cuts today, they were two that certainly caught a lot of analysts off guard.
TSN projected Glass to be on the final roster back in August so the move is worthy of a double take. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler tweets that Glass and Lind are second and third respectively in scoring for the WHL. Though the talent is hardly lacking for Canada, cutting two prominent scorers will get some attention. In addition to the aforementioned players, forward Jonathan Ang, and defenseman Logan Stanley were both cut loose.
To recap:
Canada Cuts:
F Cody Glass (Vegas Golden Knights)
F Kole Lind (Vancouver Canucks)
F Jonathan Ang (Florida Panthers)
D Dennis Cholowski (Detroit Red Wings)
D Logan Stanley (Winnipeg Jets)
G Samuel Harvey (2018 Draft Eligible)
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Minnesota Wild
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will look at what teams are thankful for as the season nears the quarter point of completion. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We take a look at what’s gone well in the first month and what could improve as the season rolls on. So far we’ve covered the following teams: ANA, ARZ, BOS, BUF, CGY, CAR, CBJ, COL, DET, EDM, FLA, LAK, NSH, NJD, NYI, NYR, PHI, PIT, SJS, STL, TOR, VAN, VGK and WSH.
What are the Minnesota Wild most thankful for?
A deep prospect pool.
When the Wild approached the expansion draft last year, they were in trouble. They had too many assets that needed protection, and were destined to lose an excellent player. In order to sway the Vegas Golden Knights’ decision in a certain direction, they gave up prized prospect Alex Tuch. Though the team had drafted Tuch in the first round just a few years prior, his upside and potential impact wasn’t seen to be as high as some of their other prospects.
Well, six months later and Tuch is starring alongside Erik Haula (the other player lost in the expansion process) in Vegas, and the Wild are struggling to stay relevant in the playoff picture. Surely they’d like to have Tuch back, but luckily those other high-end prospects still remain.
Though the relationship with Kirill Kaprizov—or lack thereof—makes the Russian a complete wildcard, there are others who should have Minnesota fans excited for the next few years. Joel Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin have both played roles in the NHL this season, while Jordan Greenway continues to dominate players even older than him in the college ranks. Ivan Lodnia was just signed after a blistering start in Erie, and the team has four picks in the top three rounds this upcoming draft.
Who are the Wild most thankful for?
General managers around the league must be hitting themselves over not pursuing Staal in the summer of 2016. Coming off a horrible season, in which he was traded from the team he’d been drafted by and captained for seven years, Minnesota happily scooped him up on July 1st. Much was said about how Staal might be on the way out of the game, until he immediately found success in Minnesota to the tune of 28 goals and 65 points.
The three-year, $10.5MM contract that he signed was just $1MM more in total than he’d earned in 2015-16 alone. Minnesota got a legitimate number one center, and borderline Hall of Fame candidate for the price of a third or fourth-line player. You can still hear Chuck Fletcher laughing to himself somewhere in St. Paul.
Staal has been everything for the club this year, leading the team in points with 26 through their first 30 games and coming through with one of the best possession seasons of his career. Playing nearly 19 minutes a night and hitting the ice in all circumstances, Staal’s contract is one of the best in the entire league. While now 33 years old, he’ll still be exceptionally valuable in the final year of his deal next season.
What would the Wild be even more thankful for?
Some “puck luck” for Mikko Koivu.
Despite still being an excellent possession player, used in all situations, Koivu can’t seem to get much going offensively this season. Coming off another one of his patented solid-if-not-spectacular seasons with 58 points, he only has 15 in his first 30 games and eight of those are on the powerplay. He’s now been held pointless in his last eight games despite being on the ice for more than 147 minutes, and hasn’t found the back of the net himself since October.
Amazingly, a lot of that has to do with pure bad luck. Koivu is carrying a pathetic 5.1% shooting percentage this season, far below his career average. Though he’s never been a sniper that carries a high percentage, he’s due for some luck going his way at some point. During his 21-game goalless streak he’s fired 58 shots on net without a single one trickling through.
He’s not only used for his offense, but a bounce here or there would be a big help for the Wild as they try to claw their way back into the playoff picture.
What should be on the Wild’s Holiday Wish List?
Another center.
When the Wild lost Haula and let Martin Hanzal walk in free agency, their center depth was tested. Though they brought in Matt Cullen, who has done a fine job for them so far, their unyielding ability to throw an effective center over the boards every single shift has left them. Charlie Coyle can play the position but the team likes him better on the wing, and Kunin isn’t quite ready for a full-time role.
There is the possibility that when Zach Parise eventually returns from injury they’ll move Coyle back to the middle, but an addition would be the best option. It’ll be tough, as the Wild are pressed right up against the cap thanks the the hefty cap hits of Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno, both who’ve been healthy scratches at times this year. That fact may force them to go with what they have right now, but it will be interesting to see if they find a way to get involved as the deadline approaches.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images