Ottawa Senators Make Five Roster Moves
The Ottawa Senators have had a busy morning when it comes to roster moves, sending Jack Rodewald and Christian Wolanin to the AHL in exchange for Erik Burgdoerfer, Nick Paul and Mike McKenna. McKenna in particular is the name fans were waiting to hear, as he’ll be the option to replace Mike Condon in net for the time being. Condon is on waivers and is expected to be assigned to the AHL should he clear today.
Ottawa has a game tonight against the Buffalo Sabres, and will have Craig Anderson in net behind the suddenly struggling team. After a solid start to the year, the group has lost their last four matches and are plummeting towards the bottom of the Atlantic Division. Perhaps Burgdoerfer can give them some secrets on their opponent tonight, given he spent a season playing in the Buffalo organization in 2016-17. The team is currently carrying eight defensemen, given Mark Borowiecki‘s ongoing suspension, and have dressed seven of them at times already this season.
If they don’t dress seven, they’ll be inserting Paul back into the lineup given they only have 12 forwards currently on the roster. The 23-year old forward does have six points in his first six AHL games, and is looking to get back into NHL action for the first time this season.
St. Louis Blues Place Jakub Jerabek On Waivers
The St. Louis Blues have placed Jakub Jerabek on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Jerabek has played just a single game for the Blues, after coming over from the Edmonton Oilers just before the season started.
If claimed, Jerabek could be joining his fourth NHL team since coming over from the KHL, despite only playing 39 games between the regular season and playoffs. The 27-year old defenseman signed with the Montreal Canadiens in the summer of 2017 only to be traded at the deadline to the eventual Stanley Cup winning Washington Capitals. A new contract with the Oilers didn’t even last all of training camp before he was cut from the squad and sent south to the Blues, where he still hasn’t been able to make much of an impression.
With the recent return of Carl Gunnarsson and several forwards from their conditioning stints, the Blues need room on the roster and Jerabek is the easiest choice to lose. His $1MM salary may actually protect him from claim, but one has to wonder if he’ll accept another demotion to the minor leagues. The Czech-born defenseman was an excellent professional player for years in his home country, and if he’s not going to get another opportunity at the NHL level this season there seems little chance of him earning a one-way contract next summer.
Pittsburgh Penguins Place Kevin Czuczman On Waivers
Monday: Czuczman has cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the AHL should the Penguins decide to do so.
Sunday: The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed defenseman Kevin Czuczman on waivers today, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. He suffered a shoulder injury during training camp and was placed on season-opening injured reserve.
The 27-year-old, who is expected to be out until December, had to go through the formality of waivers at some point and with the defenseman’s continued progression through his shoulder injury, it makes sense to do it now. He has already been with the AHL team throughout the early part of the season of his recovery.
Czuczman spent all of last year with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL, finishing with four goals and 35 points in 71 games. Entering his fifth season in the AHL, he will be brought back slowly and eventually placed on one of WBS’s top defensive lines after he is fully healthy. Czuczman chose to re-sign with a one-year, $650K contract with Pittsburgh just before free agency opened this summer.
Minor Transactions: 10/29/18
Just two games on the schedule around the league tonight, which will give teams ample time to make roster moves and get ready for this week. As always, we’ll be right here keeping track of all the minor transactions.
- The New Jersey Devils have recalled Cory Schneider from his conditioning stint as expected, meaning Eddie Lack is on his way to the minor leagues. Interestingly though, the team has used a conditioning loan for Lack too, meaning the team will currently still have three goaltenders on the NHL roster. Lack will get in some games for the Binghamton Devils before the team decides whether or not to place him on waivers.
- Jeremy Lauzon is back up with the Boston Bruins under emergency conditions, as Matt Grzelcyk was not able to practice today. The team is still also without Charlie McAvoy as he works his way back from injury, while Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston reports that Kevan Miller skated on his own. Lauzon has already made his NHL debut this season, and is now looking for his first NHL point. After practice, the team also recalled Colby Cave under emergency conditions while moving McAvoy to injured reserve.
- The St. Louis Blues have recalled Ville Husso from the minor leagues to fill in for Jake Allen while he deals with injury. Robby Fabbri, Nikita Soshnikov and Carl Gunnarsson meanwhile have all been recalled from their conditioning assignments according to Lou Korac of NHL.com.
Anaheim Ducks Place Maxime Comtois On Injured Reserve
The Anaheim Ducks have placed winger Max Comtois on injured reserve today after he sustained a lower-body injury earlier last week, according to CapFriendly. The hope was that the 19-year-old Comtois might be ready for Sunday’s matchup against San Jose after a two-day break. No word if the move was retroactive. Regardless, Comtois will likely miss a few games after this transaction.
Comtois has been one of the Ducks’ bright spots this season as he has two goals and seven points in his first 10 games of the season. A bit of a surprise to make Anaheim’s opening day roster out of training camp, the second-round pick from the 2017 draft has already burned the first year of his entry-level deal and continues to thrive in the Ducks struggling offense. He had a breakout season last season with the Victoriaville Tigres of the QMJHL after posting 44 goals and 85 points in 56 games there.
The Ducks made a couple of other roster moves, including officially sending Andrej Sustr to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL after the veteran blueliner cleared waivers earlier today. The team has now recalled defensemen Jacob Larsson and Andy Welinski from San Diego, according to The Athletic’s Eric Stephens. Larsson, the team’s first-rounder from 2015, has struggled with injuries over the last year, but the 21-year-old has been heathy so far this year with two assists in six games this season. The 25-year-old Welinski started the year in San Diego on fire, posting two goals and five points in five games so far this year. The offensive defenseman played in seven games for the Ducks last year.
Stephens also notes that Jakob Silfverberg could be close to returning to the Ducks lineup. That could be a significant return as Silfverberg was hot before getting injured against St. Louis on Oct. 14. The 28-year-old had three goals and seven points before going down with a hand injury.
Andrej Sustr Clears Waivers
Saturday: Sustr has cleared waivers, Friedman reports (Twitter link).
Friday: The Anaheim Ducks have had a rough start to the season, and have decided to make some changes. Andrej Sustr, signed this offseason to a one-year contract, has been placed on waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Sustr, 27, was not so long ago a full-time player for the Tampa Bay Lightning. The right-handed behemoth, who stands 6’7″ and can seemingly reach from hashmark to hashmark, suited up for more than 70 games in three straight seasons for the team, recording a career-high of 21 points in 2015-16. That came crashing to a halt last season when he played in just 44 games, and was allowed to leave in unrestricted free agency given their new options like Mikhail Sergachev and Ryan McDonagh.
It took just a few days on the open market for Sustr to find a home though, as he signed with the Ducks for $1.3MM and was expected to take a spot on the third pairing. The team had also signed veteran defenseman Luke Schenn, but for far less money. They’d waived Korbinian Holzer even before he ended up with wrist surgery, and all signs pointed to Sustr improving on the 13 minutes of ice time he averaged last season. That didn’t happen through his first four opportunities, as the team gave him fewer than that in each game. He still managed to take a minor penalty in three of those games, and didn’t help the Ducks do much at either end.
That $1.3MM price tag will likely keep Sustr in the Ducks organization, and allow them to move him to the minor leagues if necessary. Though there is always a need for right-handed defensemen in the league, his play so far has not shown much reason to believe he can be one of them. The Ducks would receive $1.025MM in cap relief by burying him in the minor leagues, though they’re not right up to the ceiling at the moment anyway.
Matt Beleskey, Mario Kempe Placed On Waivers
Thursday: Both Beleskey and Kempe have cleared, and can now be assigned to the minor leagues.v
Wednesday: Matt Beleskey has only played a single game for the New York Rangers since being acquired last season as part of a larger deal, and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to get into the lineup anytime soon. The veteran forward has been placed on waivers, which will allow the team to move him to the minor leagues and save a good portion of his remaining cap hit. Beleskey was sent to New York from the Boston Bruins last season as a cap dump, with the team retaining 50% of his $3.8MM cap hit. That means if the Rangers do send him to the minor leagues, only an $875K hit will be applied to their cap.
Mario Kempe from the Arizona Coyotes has also been placed on waivers, a predictable outcome after Alex Galchenyuk‘s return last night. Kempe has been held scoreless through four games this season, and is less valuable to the team right now than the group of waiver-exempt forwards. Should he clear, he’ll be assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners.
Beleskey, 30, rode the coattails of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry in Anaheim all the way to a five-year, $19MM contract with the Bruins in 2015, but hasn’t been able to replicate much of the success he had with the Ducks. Though his first season in Boston was fine, he quickly fell out of favor and has been a healthy scratch more times than he’s played over the last few seasons. There was little chance he would figure into the Rangers plans as they continue their rebuild, so he’ll likely just play out the last two seasons of his deal in the minor leagues.
Darling, Neuvirth Complete Conditioning Stints
The Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes were in similar situations earlier this month when they claimed Calvin Pickard and Curtis McElhinney off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both had an NHL goaltender—Michal Neuvirth and Scott Darling respectively—injured, and were looking for short-term help without giving up an asset or rushing a prospect. Now both are in the same situation again, as Neuvirth and Darling are ready to return.
The Hurricanes announced today that Darling has been recalled from his conditioning stint with the Charlotte Checkers, while Neuvirth told reporters including Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey that he would re-join the Flyers in Boston after playing for the Lehigh Valley Pchantoms last night. The question now for both teams is what happens to that extra goaltender that they claimed earlier in the year.
For the Flyers, it’s likely a simple decision of putting Pickard back on waivers. The team is unlikely to carry three goaltenders for any substantial length of time, and don’t seem ready to rid themselves of starter Brian Elliott just yet, despite his slow start. Elliott has just a .882 save percentage through the early going, and has allowed 24 goals through seven games. Pickard meanwhile has performed even worse with an .833 through his three appearances.
In Carolina, things aren’t nearly as clear. Though McElhinney hasn’t performed nearly as well as he did for the Maple Leafs or even Columbus Blue Jackets, he could potentially be a better option this season than what Petr Mrazek has shown so far. This is the third straight season that the former Detroit Red Wings goaltender has performed poorly, and is providing little value to the Hurricanes for his $1.5MM salary. That contract would also likely keep him from being claimed, something that certainly couldn’t be said for McElhinney.
In fact for both Pickard and McEllhinney, getting through waivers is an unlikely scenario. The Maple Leafs were left with very little goaltending depth after losing both, and then saw third-string netminder Kasimir Kaskisuo go down to injury in the minor leagues. That left them with Eamon McAdam getting an emergency call-up from the ECHL when Frederik Andersen tweaked his knee, something that the team will want to avoid going forward. If the Maple Leafs are the only team to put in a claim on Pickard or McElhinney, they could assign either goaltender directly to the minor leagues and keep them in the system without having to use a roster spot. It’s hard to imagine they wouldn’t try that for at least one of the two if they’re placed on waivers today or tomorrow.
Anton Forsberg Placed On Waivers
Tuesday: Forsberg has cleared waivers, and will be assigned to the Rockford IceHogs. Luke Johnson will be recalled in his place. Chicago will get to keep their goaltending depth for now, as Crawford looks to continue his triumphant return to the ice.
Monday: The Chicago Blackhawks needed to make a move of some sort after Corey Crawford returned to the crease recently with no ill effects, and today have placed goaltender Anton Forsberg on waivers.
Forsberg, 25, was acquired as part of the return for Artemi Panarin in the summer of 2017, and ended up playing 35 games with the Blackhawks last season. His .908 save percentage in those games actually went down as the best NHL season of his career, but that’s not saying much given he’d only played ten games while with the Columbus Blue Jackets. This year, Forsberg hasn’t been used at all after dropping down to third on the depth chart following the free agent signing of Cam Ward. Despite Ward’s ineffectiveness so far, his experience and price tag will keep him in the NHL for now. The veteran goaltender was signed for $3MM, and admitting that mistake by putting Ward on waivers this early never seemed like a possibility.
That means it had to be Forsberg, who now very well could end up on another team around the NHL. Though the claiming club would have to keep him on the NHL roster, there are several situations where they might believe he’s an upgrade over their incumbent backup. 24 NHL goaltenders have a save percentage under .900 so far this season, including backups like Mike Condon, Calvin Pickard, Malcolm Subban, Pheonix Copley, Alex Stalock and Antti Niemi. While none of those situations scream for a waiver claim, teams may be willing to take a chance on the seventh-round draft pick. Forsberg does have a lengthy history of success in the minor leagues, and has the size teams look for in NHL goaltenders.
David Ullstrom, Eric Gryba, Brian Lashoff On Waivers
Friday: All three players have cleared. Gryba and Ullstrom have both been assigned to the minor leagues, Binghamton and Tucson respectively.
Thursday: According to Craig Morgan of The Athletic, the Arizona Coyotes have placed David Ullstrom on waivers, indicating that he is close to recovered from his most recent injury. Ullstrom was on season-opening injured reserve to this point, but will report to the Tucson Roadrunners if he clears waivers. Eric Gryba of the New Jersey Devils has also been placed on waivers according to Corey Masisak of The Athletic, and Brian Lashoff finds himself in the same situation according to CapFriendly. Cory Conacher meanwhile has cleared and will be assigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, while Phillip Di Giuseppe has cleared but will remain with the Carolina Hurricanes for now.
Ullstrom, now 29, has been an enigma for his entire career. Selected 102nd overall in 2008, early on he looked like a steal for the New York Islanders given his size and speed while playing center on a regular basis. It’s hard to find quality centers that late in the draft, and when he made his North American debut in 2010 he found immediate success with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL, scoring 41 points in 67 games. Unfortunately, that would be his career high at any level to this point.
After two cups of coffee with the Islanders in which he rarely showed the kind of promise he had in the minor leagues, Ullstrom was off to the KHL where he’d bounce around to five different teams. He returned to Sweden in 2017 to play for his former club, HV71, but signed with the Coyotes this summer to give the NHL another crack. He hasn’t played this season due to injury, and now he’ll have to make his mark in the minor leagues once again. All the measurables are there with Ullstrom, but he’s never been able to put it all together for a prolonged period of time.
Gryba on the other hand is a veteran defenseman just looking for a way back into the NHL. After not seeing the minor leagues for a few consecutive seasons, he found himself back in the AHL last year after being waived by the Edmonton Oilers. A buyout followed in the summer, and Gryba had to work to earn himself a contract this year with the Devils. Unfortunately, that hasn’t turned into any NHL action just yet. A trip to waivers might be the best thing for him, given the need for defensemen around the league, and his $700K cap hit may be attractive to some teams—even perhaps Edmonton, who has had trouble with the bottom of their group. There’s a real chance that Gryba is claimed, but if not he’ll have to face the minor leagues once again.
Lashoff too is coming off season-opening injured reserve, and seems unlikely to be claimed at this point. The veteran defenseman has played just 17 NHL games since 2014, and is a full-time minor league player for the Detroit Red Wings. He’ll likely spend the entire season in the minor leagues unless the Red Wings are hit with more injuries to their defense, but even then the franchise would likely turn to younger more dynamic options.