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Atlantic Notes: Toronto’s Goalies, Carrick, Kronwall, Joseph

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have a tough decision in front of them in net as head coach Mike Babcock and general manager Kyle Dubas must decide who will be their backup goalie as the team still has four goalies on their training camp roster, including starter Frederik Andersen, incumbent backup Curtis McElhinney as well as AHL stars Garret Sparks and Calvin Pickard, according to Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star.

That could be a bigger decision than thought despite the solid season that McElhinney had last year. The 35-year-old posted a 2.14 GAA and a .934 save percentage in 18 games last year, but is on the final year of a team-friendly contract ($850K) and could conceivably cost the team, expected to have cap problems starting next season, quite a bit next season. Sparks, on the other hand, will just be a restricted free agent next season after posting impressive numbers for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, the Calder Cup champions, when the 25-year-old posted a 1.79 GAA in 43 games with a .936 save percentage. Pickard, thought to be the future of the Vegas Golden Knights, is also on the roster.

The fear is the team would likely lose Sparks if they place him on waivers to send him to the AHL, which might force the team to decide which player they would rather have, not just this season, but as their future long-term backup. Pickard, who was a backup in Colorado two years ago, could also be lost as well if they decide to place him on waivers.

  • McGran, in the same story, adds that the Maple Leafs are also looking to trade a few of their players, most notably defenseman Connor Carrick, who the team fears they will lose if they place him on waivers. Carrick got into 47 games last season, posting four goals and 12 points, but could be highly coveted by teams with defensive issues such as the Vancouver Canucks or even the Detroit Red Wings.
  • The Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan writes that veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall tweaked something in practice and now is questionable for the team’s season opener, joining Jonathan Ericsson and Trevor Daley as questionable for Thursday. Mike Green is already considered out. With those potential losses, Detroit will have to depend on their plethora of young defensemen to fill in. Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James writes that defenseman Dennis Cholowski has already won a spot on the team’s defense, but Filip Hronek, Joe Hicketts and Libor Sulak all could stay depending on those injuries.
  • While there is no specific word on whether or not he’s made the Tampa Bay Lightning, it’s expected that rookie Mathieu Joseph is a top candidate to make the team, according to Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times. Joseph stands out the most with a preseason high of four goals. The scribe describes Joseph as a future star, who could come out of no where such as Brayden Point.

Sixteen Players Placed On Waivers

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With the rosters coming into shape, some bigger names are starting to make their way to the waiver wire, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. Today, 16 players were placed on waivers. After everyone cleared from Saturday’s list, will someone get claimed from today’s group?

F Pontus Aberg (Edmonton)
F Kenny Agostino (Montreal)
F Michael Chaput (Montreal)
F Adam Cracknell (Toronto)
F Josh Jooris (Toronto)
D Brett Kulak (Calgary)
F Curtis Lazar (Calgary)
D Vincent LoVerde (Toronto)
D Kurtis MacDermid (Los Angeles)
D Dylan McIlrath (Detroit)
G Mike McKenna (Ottawa)
F Chris Mueller (Toronto)
F Anthony Peluso (Calgary)
F Matt Puempel (Detroit)
D Jordan Subban (Toronto)
D Luke Witkowski (Detroit)

Kulak could be one of the more interesting players who could get claimed as the 24-year-old defenseman played 71 games for the Flames last season and has proven to be a solid third-line pairing defenseman for a team that might need some depth at that position. He was made expendable with the emergency of rookies Rasmus Andersson and Juuso Valimaki in Calgary.

Aberg was also an interesting player, who never gained any trust with management in Edmonton after the Oilers acquired him from Nashville at the trade deadline. One big problem for the scoring winger is that he doesn’t really play on any special teams positions, which keeps him from being a quality role player.

The 23-year-old Lazar is another interesting option if a team needs a depth winger. Unfortunately for the Flames, they never saw significant progression after the team traded a second-round pick (which turned out to be Alex Formenton) for Lazar, who only produced two goals and 12 points in 65 games last season. With their forward depth evident in training camp this year with players like Dillon Dube and Andrew Mangiapane playing well, Lazar was expendable.

Minor Transactions: 9/29/18

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Even with waivers and training camp cuts, teams continue to make minor transactions as they need to recall players for their final preseason games.

  • The Philadelphia Flyers announced they have recalled defenseman Philippe Myers from Lehigh Valley of the AHL to play in their preseason game today against the Boston Bruins. The 6-foot-5, 202-pound blueliner was a top candidate to make the team out of training camp, but was sent down recently. The 21-year-old played his first AHL season last year, posting 21 points in 50 games.
  • The St. Louis Blues announced they have recalled seven players from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL for their game Sunday against the Washington Capitals, including forwards Brian Flynn, Klim Kostin, MacKenzie MacEachern and Adam Musil, as well as defensemen Chris Butler, Mitch Reinke and Tyler Wotherspoon. The Blues are looking to fill that game’s roster with a bunch of minor leaguers to get them experience as well as give some of the veterans some rest before the season starts. Besides Butler, who has spent parts of four seasons with the Blues, Klostin may be the most well-known as the 2017 first-rounder posted 28 points in the AHL last year as an 18-year-old.
  • The Dallas Stars have recalled goaltender Colton Point for their preseason finale against Colorado, according to NHL.com’s Mark Stepneski. He is expected to play the entire game Sunday after both Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin both missed practice today due to mild muscle strains. Point came over from Colgate University last year after posting a 1.79 GAA and a .944 save percentage there. He’s also fared well in limited time in the preseason, where he’s allowed just three goals on 33 shots in 32:29 minutes of ice time.

Fifteen Players Placed On Waivers

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Another busy day on the waiver wire as 15 players were placed on waivers today, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). No players was claimed from yesterday’s group of 16 players, but with the regular season fast approaching, teams are continuing to make big decisions.

F Justin Bailey (Buffalo)
F Nicholas Baptiste (Buffalo)
F Riley Barber (Washington)
D Matt Bartkowski (Minnesota)
F Patrick Brown (Carolina)
F Erik Condra (Dallas)
G Andrew Hammond (Minnesota)
F Mike Liambas (Minnesota)
D Evan McEneny (Vancouver)
F Greg McKegg (Carolina)
F Michael Mersch (Dallas)
F Liam O’Brien (Washington)
F Kyle Rau (Minnesota)
F Matt Read (Minnesota)
F Anton Rodin (Anaheim) — placed on unconditional waivers (per Lavoie)
D Matt Tennyson (Buffalo)

There are a few interesting names, including the “Hamburglar,” who lost his bid to unseat goaltender Alex Stalock as the backup goaltender in Minnesota. Hammond hasn’t been a full-time backup since the 2015-16 season, but has shown flashes of brilliance when he’s hot, including getting into three playoff appearances for Colorado last year. One of those games, Game 5, Hammond stopped 44 of 45 shots in leading the Avalanche to a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. However, he wasn’t able to keep that success going as he yielded five goals the following game as Colorado was eliminated.

The 23-year-old Bailey is another interesting player who has worked his way up level-by-level and was on the border of a regular spot. Bailey has had three stints in the NHL now and last year’s was one of the more successful ones has he tallied three goals and four points in 12 games. Baptiste is another 23-year-old in Buffalo, who got an even longer look with the Sabres, 33 games, but only managed four goals in that time.

Read is another player with tons of experience. The 32-year-old had played quite a bit in the NHL before struggling to get playing time in Philadelphia, while the 25-year-old Rau posted 23 goals in Iowa last season in the AHL.

Sixteen Players Placed On Waivers

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As is the custom at this point of the preseason, the waiver wire is a busy place today.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter links) that the following players have been placed on waivers:

D Chris Bigras (NY Rangers)
F Joseph Blandisi (Anaheim)
F Dennis Everberg (Winnipeg)
F Brendan Gaunce (Vancouver)
F Seth Griffith (Winnipeg)
F Peter Holland (NY Rangers)
F J.C. Lipon (Winnipeg)
F Nicolas Kerdiles (Winnipeg)
G Marek Mazanec (NY Rangers)
D Julian Melchiori (Florida)
G Zane McIntyre (Boston)
G Al Montoya (Edmonton)
D Cameron Schilling (Winnipeg)
F Cole Schneider (NY Rangers)
F Ben Street (Anaheim)
G Dustin Tokarski (NY Rangers)

Montoya was acquired from Montreal last season in an effort to solidify their backup position.  However, he became expendable when the team inked Mikko Koskinen to a $2.5MM contract in the offseason.  He carries a $1.0625MM cap hit although the team will be able to write off $1.025MM of that if he clears waivers and is assigned to Bakersfield of the AHL.  The placements of Mazanec and Tokarski means that youngster Alexandar Georgiev is set to break camp as the backup for the Rangers.  The two veterans will contend for the number one job with AHL Hartford and are safe bets to clear having spent the bulk of the last few years in the AHL.  McIntyre is coming off of a strong season with AHL Providence and should serve as Boston’s third-stringer if he passes through unclaimed.

On the back end, Bigras was once a prominent prospect in Colorado’s system but has stagnated in recent years.  He was dealt to the Rangers just before the trade deadline last season but stayed in the minors the rest of the way.  Melchiori battled injury issues last season and was only able to get into 49 games with Manitoba of the AHL.  He has 30 games of NHL experience over parts of three seasons but isn’t likely to be claimed.  Schilling is coming off of his best year in the minors that saw him post 32 points in 71 games with Manitoba but he hasn’t seen NHL action since playing in four games with Washington in 2014-15.

Up front, there are some familiar names.  Blandisi was part of the Adam Henrique-Sami Vatanen trade last season and was productive in the minors, collecting 29 games in 46 games between Binghamton and San Diego.  The 24-year-old has also had some NHL success, posting 26 points in 71 games and could very well be a candidate to be claimed.  Gaunce was a first-round pick (26th overall) of the Canucks back in 2012 and has held down a depth role over the last couple of seasons.  Teams looking for a younger center to work with may be inclined to take a look at him.  Griffith has proven to be a productive player at the AHL level but hasn’t been able to translate that to much NHL success.  Everberg spent last season in the KHL but has 70 games of NHL experience under his belt in Colorado.  Holland, Lipon, Kerdiles, Schneider, and Street are all AHL veterans and have cleared waivers before which makes it likely that they will pass through again this time around.

Devils Claim Jean-Sebastien Dea Off Waivers From Pittsburgh

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The Devils have added some depth up front as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they have claimed center Jean-Sebastien Dea off waivers from the Penguins.

The 24-year-old is coming off of his best season at the AHL level after posting 18 goals and 32 assists in 70 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, ranking second on the team in scoring to winger Daniel Sprong.  He also collected an assist in three postseason contests.

Dea does not have a lot of NHL experience as he has suited up in just six games in Pittsburgh, five of which came last season where he scored his first NHL goal but averaged just 5:29 of ice time per game.  However, teams are now more inclined to try smaller offensive-minded players and it appears he’ll get a longer look in New Jersey where he will battle for a spot at the end of their lineup.  The Devils are certainly familiar with him – head coach John Hynes had him for a year at the AHL level while GM Ray Shero also has some extra information about him from his time with the Penguins.

Dea will make the league minimum of $650K in the NHL while his salary dips to $200K if he was to later clear waivers and be sent to the minors.

Twelve Players Placed On Waivers

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Unsurprisingly, it’s another busy day on the waiver wire as teams continue to trim their roster in advance of the regular season.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that the following dozen players are on the wire:

F Andrew Agozzino (Colorado)
F Jean-Sebastien Dea (Pittsburgh)
D Taylor Fedun (Buffalo)
D Mason Geertzen (Colorado)
D Ryan Graves (Colorado)
D Dillon Heatherington (Dallas)
F Scott Kosmachuk (Colorado)
F Mark Letestu (Columbus)
F Wade Megan (Detroit)
D Reece Scarlett (Dallas)
D Zach Trotman (Pittsburgh)
G Scott Wedgewood (Buffalo)

Wedgewood spent last season with three different organizations.  After clearing waivers in camp with the Devils, he was quickly flipped to Arizona where he served as the Coyotes’ backup for three months.  He was then included in a pre-deadline deal with the Kings where he was once again waived and sent back to the AHL.

On the back end, Heatherington made his NHL debut in Dallas last season, getting into six games.  The 23-year-old wrapped up his entry-level deal last season and is on the wire for the first time in his career.  Trotman is a veteran of 70 NHL contests and was fairly productive in limited action with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate last season, collecting 17 points in just 49 games.  Fedun has seen NHL action in each of the last five years but has been an injury call-up in that span.  Scarlett, Geertzen, and Graves have all yet to play at the NHL level.

Up front, Letestu is the most notable.  He just signed with Columbus earlier today and should serve as veteran depth in case injuries strike.  Dea finished second in scoring in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after tallying 50 points in 70 games and with undersized offensive players getting more looks now, he could have an outside chance at being claimed.  Agozzino and Kosmachuk are coming off of productive years in the minors but haven’t seen NHL action since 2015-16.   Megan got into one game with St. Louis last season but is coming off of a quieter AHL season that saw his production get cut in half from 66 points down to 33.

As for yesterday’s group, all 17 players on the wire cleared, per CapFriendly (Twitter link).

Blue Jackets Sign Mark Letestu To A One-Year Contract

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Center Mark Letestu is returning to the Blue Jackets.  The team announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year, two-way contract and have placed him on waivers for the purpose of sending him to their AHL affiliate in Cleveland.  CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the deal will pay $750K at the NHL level, $300K in the minors, and contains a guarantee of $350K.

The 33-year-old spent most of last season with Edmonton before being dealt to Columbus in advance of the trade deadline to give them some more depth down the middle.  Between the two teams, he played in 80 games, scoring nine goals and 14 assists while averaging 12:51 per night in ice time.  However, that was a big drop in his production as in 2016-17, he collected 35 points (16-19-35, a career high) and that likely played a role in him not landing a guaranteed deal until now.  Letestu attended training camp with Florida but was cut earlier this week.

The veteran is still an above average player at the faceoff dot, winning 53.3% of his draws last season and has a career mark of 52.1%.  Accordingly, when the Blue Jackets suffer an injury or two down the middle, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them turn to Letestu as they know he can hold down a fourth line role without too much trouble, assuming he passes through waivers unclaimed on Friday.

Seventeen Players Placed On Waivers

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Every player placed on waivers yesterday – even surprise Ottawa Senators addition Zack Smith – cleared, as the wire continues to be a smooth operation for NHL teams looking to re-stock their AHL clubs this preseason. Will the next round of players also go untouched? Per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, another 17 players have been waived today, including:

G Jean-Francois Berube (Columbus)
G Kevin Boyle (Anaheim)
F Sam Carrick (Anaheim)
D Trevor Carrick (Carolina)
G Jared Coreau (Anaheim)
F Kyle Criscuolo (Buffalo)
F Chase De Leo (Anaheim)
F Tyrell Goulbourne (Philadelphia)
F Tyler Graovac (Calgary)
F Morgan Klimchuk (Calgary)
D Tyler Lewington (Washington)
D Steve Oleksy (Anaheim)
F Brandon Pirri (Vegas)
F Alan Quine (Calgary)
F Buddy Robinson (Calgary)
F Anton Rodin (Anaheim)
F Kerby Rychel (Calgary)
F Michael Sgarbossa (Washington)

Odds are that this group of players will likely play out as the other have this off-season. There are very few names that jump out as worthy of an NHL roster spot. Many are also recent unrestricted free agents, meaning teams have had a chance to bring them in already and 30 didn’t do so.

Of the group, Berube and Pirri have the most name value. A former top goalie prospect who the New York Islanders once kept on as a third goalie simply so that he would not be subjected to waivers, Berube has lost much of his shine. A poor effort as the third-string goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks last season led to an off-season trade to Columbus, where he will most likely play in the AHL for much of the year. Teams desperate for a backup goalie would be better off with Coreau than Berube in all likelihood. As for Pirri, the one-time 20-goal scorer is hard to get a read on, excelling with some teams and struggling with others. He only played in two games last year with the Golden Knights and score three goals, yet somehow was unable to hold on to a roster spot. One of the league’s greatest enigma’s, Pirri’s value on waivers is a mystery.

Graovac, Rychel, and Quine are nice bottom-six pieces, but signed to two-way contracts for a reason. Oleksy is an ideal eighth or ninth defenseman. The Carrick brothers are also solid pros but have been limited in their NHL experience due to ability not opportunity. Others on the list are similar: notable veterans who would be an asset as a minor league depth player, but simply not as a lock on the NHL roster.

Finally, there’s Rodin, who may be the outlier that could be claimed by the right team. The former Swedish Hockey League MVP has unquestionable ability, but was not able to make a difference with the Vancouver Canucks and seemingly has realized the same fate with the Anaheim Ducks. A team willing to guarantee him top-nine ice time could find that he is a weapon when healthy. Is that upside worthy of a waiver claim?

Bruins Face Threat Of History Repeating Itself

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The problem that every team wants to have is being too deep. Having a redundancy of talent is nothing to complain about. However, it does make for hard decisions and sometime losing players on waivers or regretting not signing an impressive camp invitee. The Boston Bruins learned this the hard way in 2015-16, when Lee Stempniak worked out with the team all off-season and early in camp only to sign with the New Jersey Devils when no offer came from Boston. The Bruins then had to give up a second- and fourth-round pick to acquire Stempniak at the trade deadline, whose 41 points at that point would have been of use to the team all season long. The Bruins are a much improved team entering 2018-19 than they were three years ago, and are unlikely to be as negatively impacted by a bad call, but still want to make the best decision for the team.

Naturally, Stempniak as well as Daniel Winnik have been in camp on PTO’s and have looked surprisingly good. Winnik looked like one of the Bruins’ best skaters in their first two preseason games and has a goal and an assist through four games, while Stempniak has dominated the team’s last two preseason games, racking up a goal and four assists with a hand in nearly every Bruins tally. Stempniak and Winnik may be 35 and 33 years old respectively, but both are proven veterans with the versatility to play multiple roles. The hard-nosed Winnik, who totaled 23 points with the Minnesota Wild last year, might be better suited for a fourth-line role, while the keen-eyed Stempniak could bounce back from an injury-plagued season with the Carolina Hurricanes to be a serviceable middle-six replacement option. There is no doubt after this preseason that both experienced forward can still help an NHL team, but are either the right call for the Bruins?

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn recently analyzed the Bruins roster and found data to support the claim that the Bruins have eight forwards who are of top-six caliber, among the best count in the league. Of course, the top line of Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak is set, while David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk won’t be splitting apart on the second line. One of rookie Ryan Donato or sophomore Danton Heinen will play the off-wing on that line, with the other lining up naturally on the left side with David Backes at right wing. There are the eight top-six forwards, none of whom are losing ice time to Stempniak or Winnik. However, the Bruins also invested in their fourth line this off-season, bringing in Chris Wagner and Joakim Nordstrom to complement Sean Kuraly and Noel Acciari. Winnik would seem like a fit with that group as well, but five veteran grinders fighting for three fourth line spots may not be Boston’s best use of roster space. Finally, the Bruins seem committed to giving a prospect a shot at centering the third line, with Trent Frederic, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, and Jack Studnicka all trying out in camp. Winnik or Stempniak would seemingly only make sense if the Bruins had doubts about all three of those options handling the position. Even as injury fallback options, there is a logjam. Anders Bjork and Peter Cehlarik are both young forwards with NHL experience currently slotted for AHL assignment who could benefit from increased opportunity.

Then again, feeling content with the roster is what caused the Bruins to pass up on Stempniak the first time around. Given that Bergeron, Kuraly, and Acciari are all dealing with injuries currently, the team could opt to sign Winnik or Stempniak for the time being and deal with the roster management down the road. Boston could also avoid the sunk-cost bias associated with their recent signing of Nordstrom, who very well could be an inferior option to either of the veterans. At a $1MM salary, the Bruins could completely bury Nordstrom’s cap hit in the minors if he were to clear waivers. Such a decision would then clear room for Stempniak or Winnik (or both) to join the team. There is no easy answer and lots of moving pieces, but Boston knows as well as any one how a training camp roster decision can come back to haunt a team.

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